Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 005 - DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION › Division 28 - Division of Elementary and Secondary Education › Rule 005.28.22-021 - DESE Rules Governing Nutrition and Physical Activity Standards and Body Mass Index for Age Assessment Protocols in Arkansas Public School

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
1.00
PURPOSE
The purpose of these rules is to establish the requirements and
				procedures for governing nutrition and physical activity standards and body
				mass index for age assessment protocols in Arkansas Public Schools.
2.00
REGULATORY
			 AUTHORITY
These Rules are enacted pursuant to the authority of the State
				Board of Education under Ark. Code Ann. §§
									6-16-102,
				6-16-132,
				6-18-719,
				20-7-134, and
				20-7-135.
3.00
DEFINITIONS
For the purpose of these rules, the following terms
				mean:
3.01 A La Carte - Individually
			 priced food or beverage items provided by the nonprofit school food service
			 program. These items may or may not be part of the reimbursable meal. A la
			 carte items must meet federal Smart Snacks requirements.
3.02 Alliance for a Healthier Generation
			 Smart Snacks Calculator - A tool developed by the Alliance for a Healthier
			 Generation to assist schools in identifying products that meet the federal
			 nutrition standards for Smart Snacks.
3.03 Arkansas Child Health Advisory Committee
			 - A state level committee that was established by Ark. Code Ann. §
									20-7-133 to develop nutrition and
			 physical activity standards and make policy recommendations to the State Board
			 of Education and the Arkansas Board of Health.
3.04 Body Mass Index (BMI) - Weight in pounds
			 divided by height in inches squared multiplied by 703 (Metric: Weight in
			 kilograms divided by height in meters squared).
3.05 BMI for Age Assessment - Calculating the
			 height and weight as in the definition for BMI and applying the CDC growth
			 charts for age and gender.
3.06 BMI
			 for Age Assessment Protocols - A detailed plan designed to describe appropriate
			 procedure for assessment.
3.07 Body
			 Mass Index Percentile for Age - An indicator to assess the size and growth
			 patterns of individual children based on CDC's BMI-for-age growth charts for
			 boys and girls.
3.08 Breastfeeding
			 Education and Practices - Age-appropriate education for students regarding the
			 nutritional benefits of breastmilk. Breastfeeding practices include the
			 implementation of support and space made available in public schools facilities
			 for breastfeeding mothers.
3.09
			 Carpenter's Square - An instrument for ensuring a level reading of
			 height.
3.10 Child Nutrition
			 Programs - The federal child nutrition programs operated by Arkansas public
			 schools, including public charter schools, which include the National School
			 Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, the After School Snack Program,
			 the Special Milk Program and the Summer Feeding Program, as established by the
			 Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C.§
										1751
			 et seq.) and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. §
										1771
			 et seq.).
3.11 Community Health
			 Nurse Specialist (CHN) - Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) Nurses located at
			 educational cooperatives.
3.12
			 Competitive Foods - Foods and beverages sold or made available to students that
			 compete with the school's operation of the child nutrition programs, including,
			 but not limited to, food and beverages sold or provided in a vending venue
			 (machines, ice chests, cabinets) in school stores or as part of school
			 fundraisers to students on school premises during the school day.
Note: This definition complies with the federal definition of
				"Competitive Foods," found in 7 CFR
				210.11(a)(1).
3.12.1 Provided Competitive Food and/or
			 Beverages - Smart Snacks - compliant food and/or beverages that are provided
			 free-of-charge to a student or group of students by school administrators or
			 school non-licensed or licensed staff (principals, coaches, teachers, club
			 sponsors, etc.), students or student groups, parents or parent groups, or any
			 other person, company, or organization associated with the school
			 site.
3.12.2 Sold Competitive Food
			 and/or Beverages - Smart Snacks-compliant food and/or beverages that are for
			 sale to a student or group of students by school administrators or school
			 non-licensed or licensed staff (principals, coaches, teachers, club sponsors,
			 etc.), students or student groups, parents or parent groups, or another person,
			 company or organization associated with the school site.
3.13 Confidential - Information marked or
			 intended for a specific person or persons.
3.14 Designee - A person approved or
			 designated by a school district.
3.15 DESE - The Division of Elementary and
			 Secondary Education of the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE).
3.16 Digital Scale or Scale - A digital
			 instrument for measuring weight.
3.17 Elementary School - A campus with a
			 designated Local Education Agency (LEA) number containing any combination of
			 grades kindergarten through six (K-6).
3.18 Health & Wellness School Improvement
			 Plan - A school level plan that outlines goals and objectives related to the
			 nutrition and physical activity environment for students and staff.
3.19 Healthy Nutrition Environment - A
			 healthy school nutrition environment gives students consistent, reliable health
			 information and ample opportunity to use it.
3.20 Height - A standing measurement in
			 inches or meters.
3.21 High School
			 - A campus with a designated LEA number containing any combination of grades
			 nine through twelve (9-12).
3.22
			 Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010 - The federal law that updated the meal
			 patterns and nutrition standards for the National School Lunch and School
			 Breakfast Programs, including access to drinking water, and updated nutrition
			 standards for all food products sold and marketed on school grounds to align
			 them with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The Act also updated policies
			 regarding school wellness committees and the content, implementation,
			 evaluation, and public reporting of wellness policies.
3.23 Junior High School - A campus with a
			 designated LEA number containing any combination of grades seven through nine
			 (7-9).
3.24 Local School Wellness
			 Policy - A written document that guides a LEA or school district's efforts to
			 create supportive school nutrition and physical activity
			 environments.
3.25 Middle School -
			 A campus with a designated LEA number containing any combination of grades five
			 through eight (5-8).
3.26 Physical
			 Activity - Any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that results in
			 energy expenditure.
3.27 Physical
			 and Built Environment - Infrastructure and spaces designed to promote physical
			 activity (i.e., walking trails, sidewalks, indoor and outdoor fitness
			 facilities, open recreational spaces such as playgrounds and soccer
			 fields.)
3.28 Physical Education -
			 A planned, sequential K-12 curriculum that provides cognitive content and
			 learning experiences in a variety of activity areas including basic movement
			 skills; physical fitness, rhythms, and dance; team games (dual and individual
			 sports); tumbling and gymnastics; and aquatics.
3.29 Private - Not openly or in
			 public.
3.30 Recess - Supervised,
			 unstructured social time during which public school students may communicate
			 with each other. Recess shall occur outdoors when weather and other relevant
			 conditions permit and include, without limitation, opportunities for free play
			 and vigorous physical activity regardless of whether it occurs indoors or
			 outdoors.
3.31 Regular Basis - A
			 regularly repeated or continuing occurrence at a specific school site. For
			 example: every day, or on a particular day each week, or repeated on a defined
			 schedule.
3.32 Reimbursable Meal -
			 A meal which meets the U.S.D.A. criteria for reimbursement for one of the Child
			 Nutrition Programs in Arkansas.
3.33 School Day - The period from the
			 midnight before to thirty (30) minutes after the end of the day's classes,
			 during which federal Smart Snacks requirements must be met.
3.34 School Events - Any occasion such as
			 field day, holiday, school recognition activities, end of school events, etc.
			 designated at the discretion of the school administration.
3.35 School Fundraisers - For purposes of
			 this rule, all food and beverage items sold by school administrators or school
			 non-licensed or licensed staff (principals, coaches, teachers, club sponsors,
			 etc.), students or student groups, parents or parent groups, or any other
			 person, company or organization directly associated with the school
			 programs.
3.36 School Health Index
			 - The School Health Index (SHI) is a self-assessment and planning guide
			 designed by CDC to help schools identify strengths and weaknesses of the
			 school's health promotion policies and programs for the purpose of supporting
			 student achievement and wellness.
3.37 School Nurse - Nurses employed by school
			 districts.
3.38 School Site - Any
			 and all locations associated with a LEA number.
3.39 Smart Snacks in School Program (Smart
			 Snacks) - The program established by amendments to the Healthy Hunger Free Kids
			 Act of 2010 which specify that nutrition standards apply to all foods sold:
3.39.1 Outside the school meal
			 programs;
3.39.2 On the school
			 campus; and
3.39.3 At any time from
			 the midnight before to thirty (30) minutes after the end of the day's
			 classes.
3.40 Stadiometer
			 - An instrument for measuring standing height.
3.41 Student Health Report - A written notice
			 to parents with student's health screening information.
3.42 Testing Day - A school day that involves
			 one of the state-wide programs for education assessment in which every student
			 attending an Arkansas public school is required to participate as required in
			 Ark. Code Ann. §
									6-15-2907 and as established by the
			 State Board of Education.
3.43
			 Vending - Means to sell or give away foods and beverages anywhere at a school
			 site on a regular basis, including but not limited to a classroom, school store
			 or concession stand, or equipment such as heated cabinets, hot or cold vending
			 machines, ice chests, coolers, etc.
3.44 Weight - A measurement in pounds or
			 kilograms.
3.45 Wellness Committee
			 - School nutrition and physical activity advisory group concerned with the
			 health and wellbeing of students and staff, also known as School Nutrition and
			 Physical Advisory Committee.
3.46
			 Written Refusal - Written notice to school district requesting a child not be
			 included in assessing BMI.
For the purposes of any protocols developed pursuant to these
				rules, the following terms mean:
3.47
			 Certificate of Completion - A document provided upon completion of BMI
			 assessment training protocol.
3.48
			 Fried Food - Foods that are cooked by total or partial immersion into hot oil
			 or other fat, commonly referred to as "deep fat frying" or "pan
			 frying."
3.49 Recorder - A person
			 who writes down student heights and weights or enters measurements into a
			 database.