curnowc Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SCHOOL HEALTH ADVISORY COUNCIL School District No. 2, Yellowstone County High School District No. 2, Yellowstone County Billings, Montana April 12, 2011 The School Health Advisory Council met Tuesday, April 12, 2011 at 4:00 p.m. in Room 213 of the Lincoln Center. Virginia Mermel presided over the meeting. Attending were, Bernie Mason, Karen Dawson, Laura Holmlund, Beverly McHugh, Jeff Uhren, Rob McDonald and Elizabeth Clemins. Introductions Virginia Mermel welcomed the committee and introduced guests. BackPack Funding Update Karen Dawson gave an updated report on funding for the backpack program. The Soroptomist Club generously gave a check in the amount of $10,452.57 Abbey Coffee, an 8th Grader from Lewis & Clark Middle School, helped the Soroptomist with fund raising by selling coupon books at Herbergers Community Days. She earned nearly $800. Legislative Updates The MT state legislature killed a bill that would have allowed schools to measure student BMI. Some dietitians applaud this since they fear that measuring students’ BMI could cause some students to become preoccupied with their weight/body image and trigger or exacerbate eating disorders. But, many researchers are distressed because lager scale national grants require this data. The MT Legislature is also considering HJ8- an interim study bill known as the End Childhood Hunger Study, which will examine ways to reduce duplication and increase cooperation between private and public agencies that address hunger. The Yellowstone County Food Policy Council, the MT Dietetic Association, the MT Food Policy Council and similar organizations support this bill. Please consider adding your voice to those in favor of this no cost bill. Summer Lunch Program SD#2 has asked if SHAC or other community organizations can help expand the extracurricular offerings during the Summer Lunch in the Park Program. Virginia has applied for and received 2 Summer VISTA Associates—through the City of Billings METRO VISTA project-- to help expand summer park activities. The VISTAs will provide physical activity program that includes cross-disciplinary games at summer lunch sites and they will help with the Reading Rocks Program. The Billings Education Foundation is still looking for additional volunteers for Reading Rocks. Please contact the Foundation if you are interested in being a reading partner. Revising SHAC Physical Activity Recommendations The SHAC Physical Activity (PA) Recommendations adopted in 2007 need to be updated to reflect changes in partnerships between SD-2. MSU Billings Health Promotion Students, the Y etc. Furthermore, now that the City of Billings is completing the last of the Elementary School Safe Routes to School audits, the Safe Routes to School Recommendation needs to be elevated to a policy. A detailed discussion regarding the nature of policies verses recommendations followed. SHAC members wanted to know if all of the PA recommendations should be elevated to the level of a policy. Vice Principals Jeff Uhren and Rob McDonald explained how a formal policy creates more work for administrators and limits flexibility to adjust wellness goals to each school‘s situation and setting. Looking at specific PA recommendations such as the one about teachers not withholding PE or recess, it was determined that policies already exist to prevent teachers from using these tactics as a first line of discipline. Thus a wellness policy addressing this issue is not needed. After much discussion and debate, SHAC members decided that only the SRTS recommendation would be elevated to the level of a policy. The remaining PA recommendations would simply be updated. However, by the end of the meeting, too few members were in attendance to finalize the proposed new recommendations. Approval of Minutes The minutes from the January 11, 2011 and February 15, 2011 meetings were not approved because there was not a quorum. Respectfully submitted: __________________________ Virginia Mermel, Chair ____________________ Cindy Curnow, Recorder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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