By Andrew Hackmack
Patty Clemp, Tara Osani and Jennifer Granda are three Wheeler Avenue parents who are not happy with the district. Clemp says the new policy allows the district to collect information on children and pass it along to Stony Brook University for research purposes. Stony Brook sponsors the Heart Links program, in which District 13 is one of 22 participating Long Island school systems.
The parents claim that information is being collected and disseminated without their permission, though children¹s names are not attached. ³We¹re furious that they¹ve given data, even though it¹s anonymous,² Granda said. ³We didn¹t know that they were collecting any data on our children.²
Clemp agreed, saying the district has no right to give out this information. ³As parents we have the right to require the school to obtain written consent prior to sharing any personal information regarding our children,² she said. ³To me it shows a lack of respect toward the parents. These are our children, not theirs.²
District officials say the only information being collected is children¹s heights and weights, used to determine their body mass indexes. Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Lison said no names are given to Stony Brook, just the lists of heights and weights.
Howell Road Principal Frank Huplosky said his school has been collecting this data for years because of growing concerns about childhood obesity. Huplosky said that if a child has a high body mass index, it can often lead to more serious health problems. If school officials see a concern when taking these measurements, they can alert parents and suggest that they take their child to a physician. ³You need to see where we stand and how serious a problem it is,² he said.
Just as upsetting to many parents is the new policy banning ³celebration foods² in classrooms. Osani said that all districts are required by state law to have a wellness program in place, but she believes this part of the policy goes too far. School officials should not be telling children what they can and cannot eat.
Osani said that other districts have been more lenient in their policies ‹ for example, allowing celebration foods once a month for all the children having a birthday that month. One parent, who has a son in third grade at Wheeler Avenue School, told a story of how she tried to prepare a healthy snack in honor of his birthday. Gislaine Souvenance said her child was told the class was allowed to eat only healthy foods, so she and her son stayed up late the night before and prepared a fruit basket. She bought 24 apples and several pounds of grapes, and wrapped it all up nicely in a basket. The next day, when her son arrived at school, he was told he could not bring the food into his classroom. That afternoon he came home with a full fruit basket.
³He was very upset about it,² Souvenance said.
Souvenance, who is new to the district, said she was not aware that the school banned all foods, and would like to see the district be less strict in its policy. ³What is healthier than fruit and vegetables?² she asked.
Lison said that the decision was made to ban all foods because it should be up to each parent to decide what their own children eat. Additionally, their are no assurances as to the cleanliness of the kitchen in which the food is prepared. She said the district would seek to better inform parents of this policy. ³I¹m sorry that there was a lack of communication to that mom,² she said.
Clemp said the story of the child sent home with his fruit basket is an example of how the district has gone too far. She said the boy was trying to set an example by preparing a healthy snack, and should not have been embarrassed like that.
District officials said children are allowed to bring in whatever kind of snack they want, healthy or unhealthy. They cannot share it with other children, however, because that takes the control over what they are eating out of the hands of the parents. Huplosky said that not everyone is opposed to the policy. ³I have a number of parents who don¹t want any snacks in school,² he said. ³We have to be extremely cautious of everything that enters the building. Times have changed, unfortunately.²
Wheeler Avenue parents Joan Coletta, Margaret Goldberg and Christine Barnwell spoke in favor of what District 13 is doing. ³Encouraging kids to eat healthy is a very positive thing,² Barnwell said. ³It¹s not just our school that¹s encouraging eating well. It¹s society.²
Coletta said that she feels it is a step in the right direction to disassociate eating with birthdays. ³You don¹t always need food to celebrate something good in a child¹s life,² she said.
Celebrations haven¹t ended in District 13, just the way birthdays are celebrated. Parents can still send in non-food alternatives. Coletta sent in craft material, with which every child made her daughter a birthday card earlier this school year. ³Now she has a keepsake, and the children celebrated her birthday,² Coletta said. ³She had a great time.²
Goldberg said the new policy has actually created a new level of excitement among the children, who are trying to come up with unique ways to celebrate their birthdays. Her daughter¹s birthday is still a few months away, but, Goldberg said, ³She¹s already thinking about what she¹s going
to do.²
Board of Education President William Stris, who sat on the wellness committee, defended the district¹s new policy. ³We are an educational institution,² he said. ³We want children to make healthy choices, and this is part of our mission statement.²
Stris said any changes to the policy will be made by the Board of Education, but will be based on the recommendation of the wellness committee. School officials encourage all parents to get involved and have their say on the policy.
Osani said she feels that a majority of parents are not happy with the program and want to see it revised. ³We need change,² she said, adding that there also needs to be better communication on the district¹s part with parents.
Parents appear willing to sit down, talk about the policy and try to find some middle ground. District officials say that nothing is set in stone, and they would like to hear from all parties as to how to address the health concerns of the school-age generation.
³We are working together,² Willow Road Principal Stephanie Capozzoli said. ³Nobody is close-minded.²
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