Perkiomen Valley SD begins triennial wellness assessment; food services reports small gains in fruit and vegetable uptake
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Summary
The district will conduct its federally prompted triennial school wellness assessment this year; food services reported modest increases in meals including a fruit or vegetable and flagged BMI data as useful context for policy goals.
Perkiomen Valley School District staff said the district will run its triennial wellness policy assessment this school year and expect principals to complete the tool by April 30 so the wellness committee can review consolidated results next year.
The assessment is required for districts participating in the National School Lunch Program and is designed to check compliance with the district’s school wellness policy on nutrition education, physical activity and nutrition standards for food and beverages.
Kelsey Gardner, food service director, reminded the committee that “breakfast is free for all students” and described meal initiatives including a recent Thanksgiving menu and a planned Feb. 13 chocolate‑covered‑strawberry‑themed breakfast. Gardner said the district has changed some recipes and presentation (for example, roasting vegetables) to encourage students to take and eat fruits and vegetables.
Gardner said participation in meals that include a fruit or vegetable rose from about 38% to roughly 40–42% since she started, and breakfast participation also increased. “When I started, our participation was probably at 37% for the National School Lunch Program… And now, we're up 6% I believe, to around 40, 42‑ish percent,” Gardner said.
Krista Keveney, nursing department chair, offered student BMI trends as context and said a nurse’s review showed an estimated 30% of students are obese or overweight. “I think right now we're at 30 percent obese or overweight, which is really high,” Keveney said; she offered that nurses can provide longitudinal BMI data to inform the wellness policy review.
Gardner said the wellness assessment tool is distributed through the Pennsylvania Department of Education and that principals will work with school teams (physical education, health, nurses and others) to complete it. The district asked principals to return completed assessments by April 30; results will be compiled and form the basis for next year’s policy discussions.
Committee members discussed data points the assessment will cover, including whether students receive 60 minutes of age‑appropriate physical activity per day, professional development for PE staff, and whether the district’s local written standards for classroom party or reward foods meet nutrition criteria (for example, reward items limited to 200 calories or less and specified sodium/fat thresholds). The committee did not take formal action; staff will compile results and present policy recommendations later.