Governing Board - Policies
Policies/Regulations
Governing Board Policies
Section I: Instructional Program
Policy Title: Physical Activity and Wellness
Policy Code: IHAM
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Policy Intent/Rationale:
The Tucson Unified School District promotes wellness by supporting good nutrition and regular physical activity as part of the total learning environment. Wellness is defined as the dynamic state of achieving optimal well-being in all the dimensions of health: physical, mental/emotional, and social.
The District supports a healthy environment where children learn and participate in positive dietary and lifestyle practices. Schools contribute to the basic health status of children by facilitating learning through the support and promotion of good nutrition and physical activity. Improved health optimizes student performance potential.
The District supports a work environment where employees are encouraged to embrace healthy lifestyle choices, educational resources are provided, and information about wellness activities is available so that employees can serve as good role models for students.
Provide a comprehensive learning environment for developing and practicing lifelong wellness behaviors.
The entire school environment, not just the classroom, shall be aligned with goals to positively influence a student's understanding, beliefs and habits as they relate to good nutrition and regular physical activity. A healthy school environment should not be sacrificed because of a dependence on revenue from high fat, high added sugar, low nutrient foods, and food and beverage sales in addition to meals to support school programs.
Support and promote proper dietary habits contributing to students' health status and academic performance.
All foods and beverages available to students on school grounds before, during, and after the instructional day, except public events, should meet the District Nutrition Standards. Emphasis should be placed on foods that are nutrient dense per calorie. To ensure safe, nutritious foods, consideration of available foods and beverages should be based on national health initiatives, nutrient contribution, variety, appeal, safety, and packaging.
Provide physical education and physical activity opportunities for students.
- Physical education is the environment in which students learn, practice, and are assessed on motor skills, movement skills, health-related fitness, social skills in the physical activity environment and the knowledge of these skills and the components of a physically active lifestyle.
- Physical activity involves bodily movement that results in an expenditure of energy of at least a moderate intensity level and for a duration sufficient to provide a significant health benefit.
Physical education and physical activity must be scheduled within the school plan.
- The goal of physical education and all physical activity is to support families in the development of healthy, active citizens committed to life-long physical well being.
- A quality physical education program will provide a portion of the essential physical activity and is a vital component for all students pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade.
- Physical activity must be included in a school's daily educational program for grades pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade. Physical activity can also include recess that encourages activity, structured and unstructured recess, recreational activities, intramurals, integrated curricular activities, physical activity clubs and interscholastic athletics which allow students to accumulate at least 60 minutes of activity on all days of the school week. Specific individual student adaptations will be addressed through 504 Plans or Individual Education Plans.
- Beginning in the 2011-2012 school year, each elementary school student in full day kindergarten and grades one through five shall participate in a minimum of 60 minutes per week of structured recess, in minimum increments of 10 minutes and occurring during at least three days of the week.
- Structured recess should involve moderate to vigorous physical activity and can include any organized and supervised physical activity, such as exercises, walking, jogging, dancing, games or sports outside or inside the classroom. For the purpose of this policy, physical education classes can be considered structured recess, but free recess and recess immediately before and after lunch cannot be considered structured recess.
- As with all physical activity, specific individual adaptations will be addressed through 504 Plans or Individual Education Plans.
The Tucson Unified School District is committed to improve academic performance.
Educators, administrators, parents, health practitioners and communities must consider the critical role student health plays in academic stamina and performance and adapt the school environment to ensure students' basic nourishment and activity needs are met. To ensure widespread understanding of the benefits to school environments where nutritious foods are provided and where students have an opportunity for physical activity, a public awareness campaign that highlights research demonstrating the positive relationship between good nutrition, physical activity, and capacity of students to develop and learn should be conducted.
Establish and maintain a District Wellness Committee with the purposes of:
- developing guidance to explicate this policy
- monitoring the implementation of this policy
- evaluating and reporting policy progress
- serving as a resource to school sites, (e.g. providing lists of healthy snacks for incentives, celebrations and physical activity initiatives, etc.) and
- recommending revisions to policy as necessary.
The Committee is appointed by the Superintendent and meets a minimum of annually with Committee membership including, but not limited to:
- District Food Service Director/Manager, Co-Chair
- Physical Education and Health Program Leader, Co-Chair
- Committee members shall also include:
- Physical Education Teacher
- Coach/Athletic Trainer
- School Nurse
- Classroom Teacher
- Parent Representatives
- Student Representatives
- Governing Board Member
- Administrative Representative
- Local Community Partners (e.g. Boys & Girls Club, YMCA)
Responsibilities of the District Wellness Committee may include, but not be limited to, oversight of the following:
- Implementation of district nutrition and physical activity standards.
- Integration of nutrition and physical activity in the overall curriculum.
- Assurance that staff professional development includes nutrition and physical activity issues.
- Assurance that students receive nutrition education and engage in moderate/vigorous physical activity.
- Promotion of healthful choices among all school venues that involve the availability and/or sale of food and beverages.
On each school campus, schools shall establish a plan for implementation including principal designation of one or more individuals to ensure compliance with standards of the District Wellness Policy. The principal or designee will report on the school's compliance to the Co-Chairpersons of the District Wellness Committee.
The Director of Food Services will ensure compliance with the nutrition-related components of the policy within the school food service areas and will report to the District Wellness Committee on this matter.
Adopted: June 27, 2006
Revision: February 22, 2011
LEGAL REF.: A.R.S. §15-108 Recess Policy
A.R.S. §15-242 Nutritional Standards
R7-2-301 Minimum Course of Study and Competency Goals for Students in the Common Schools
R7-2-302 Minimum Course of Study and Competency Requirements for Graduation from High School
R7-2-302.04 Minimum Course of Study and Competency Requirements for Graduation from High School
This policy fulfills the requirements of Section 204 of The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-265).
CROSS REF.:
Policy # JJE Student Fund-Raising Activities
Administrative Regulation 1241 Fund Raising
Policy # JLD Guidance and Counseling