August 4, 2006
State�s Wellness Directive Threatened School Fundraising
As Printed in Candy Industry Magazine - July 2006
Some might call it just semantics, replacing the word �standards� for �guidelines.� For Mike Schmid, managing partner at Wolfgang Candy, changing the words �nutritional standards� to �nutritional guidelines� goes well beyond splitting hairs; it represents months of lobbying to correctly interpret a federal law that invokes Pennsylvania schools participating in the National School Lunch program to develop local wellness policies.
More than nuance, the move represents a critical change, one that threatened to cripple Wolfgang Candy�s principal revenue channel, school fundraising.
As Schmid explains, when Public Law 108-265, the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Ace of 2004 was passed, it required all local school districts receiving federal funds via the school lunch program to ensure that all �competitive foods,� essentially foods sold a la carte in cafeterias, vending, school stores, served at classroom parties and used in fundraising, voluntarily meet nutritional designated standards.
The fundraising directive initially drawn up by Pennsylvania�s Education Dept. called for all fundraising foods sold outside of school to limit the amount of sugar, fat, sodium or trans fat content in them. In essence, the directive would have � de facto � banned the sales of candies and snacks as a fundraising tool by its tone and connotation.
Thus, despite the federal directive specifically focusing on foods served to children during the school day, the state documentation implied mandatory regulations for all foods.
It didn�t take long before school administrators throughout the state were interpreting the �nutritional standards� as regulations, prompting many principals to cast a negative eye on candy fundraising efforts.
Perception, as so often is the case in today�s media-manipulated society, was becoming reality. In Schmid�s case, customers were becoming casualties. Before he realized, there were 15 schools that either planned on canceling candy fundraising efforts or were questioning their ability to do so.
Working with his state senator, Michael Waugh (R � District 28), Schmid was able to meet with the state�s department of education and point out the critical difference between mandatory and voluntary compliance for �competitive foods� in developing a wellness program for children.
In doing so, the department changed the words �standards� to �guidelines.� The subtlety, nevertheless, did not rectify the confusion already existing about what schools can or cannot do regarding fundraising.
Consequently, Schmid sent out a letter to school administrators clarifying what Public Law 108-265 does and does not require from school districts (see below). As Schmid points out in his letter, Wolfgang�s candy products and programs �are not marketed or sold to children, rather it is adults who purchase quality Wolfgang chocolates for the benefit of valuable programs throughout our public and private schools.�
As Schmid�s letter notes, �Wolfgang wholly and completely supports Public Law 108-365, and furthermore we sincerely believe that improving nutrition and wellness among our nation�s school children is and should be a top priority.�
At the same time, parents and parental organizations still have a right to conduct fundraising efforts involving candy, baked goods or snacks, he asserts. In this instance, it�s not only the spirit of the law, it is the law.
Fundraising and the Law
(A summary of Mike Schmid�s letter detailing what�s allowed and not allowed under Public Law 108-265, the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004, within Pennsylvania.)
� The law affects school wellness policies for the following:
1. Foods served and consumed during school hours by school children2. Foods served and consumed on school property by school children3. Foods served, sold or distributed to school children on school property
� The law does not affect or have any authority over independent parent groups, such as the PTA/PTO, Home & School Parents Associations, Booster Clubs, etc.
� The law does not affect or have any authority over fundraising programs that:
1. Do not take place during school hours and/or on school property.2. Are conducted by and for the benefit of independent parent organizations (i.e., PTA/PTO, Home & School Parents Associations, Booster Clubs, etc.)3. Are not served, sold or distributed to school children during school hours and/or school property.