Wellness Committee Meeting Minutes

October 3, 2023

Attendance:

Chloe Miller, High School Student

Amberlee Miller, Lead Nurse

Brendan Gubera, Athletic Training Teacher and Coach

Lindsey Stevenson, Nutrition and Wellness Director

Dr. David Pyle, Assistant Superintendent for Operations, District Wellness Coordinator

Christy Pittman, Staff Wellness Coordinator

Additional Attendees:

N/A

Dr. Pyle opened the meeting by briefly reviewing the minutes from the previous meeting on

9/14/22. Discussed background of wellness program including goals, and established action

steps.

We discussed goals and action steps for the program’s three areas - Nutrition and Education,

Physical Activity, and Tobacco and Vaping Education and Prevention.

NUTRITION

● Goal to increase school lunch participation by 6% and breakfast participation by 3%

remains and is being compared to the 2019-20 school year. Students are required to pay

for meals again. The baseline data was meals served in the 19-20 school year, prior to the

pandemic. Lunch has increased by 41% and breakfast increased by 23% for the 2022-23

school year.

● Long lunch lines continue to be an issue and deter some students from eating school

meals, but not sure how to adjust this process to speed up the wait times. This may be due

to some lines being longer than others.There seems to be more issues in the Primary 2-3

and Intermediate buildings.

● It was mentioned to look into breakfast participation and limitations of availability for

students to eat breakfast. Chloe Miller suggested that students in the Junior High and

High School prefer to eat at home. Lindsey Stevenson checked with Republic and Ozark

School districts and they have similar numbers for breakfast in their Junior High and

High School buildings. This action has been eliminated.

● The Nutrition and Wellness Director has brought in new meal options and will implement

new specials on Mondays at the High School. If the special goes over well it will be

added to the regular menus. To gauge interest in new foods it was suggested to place QR

codes on the lunchroom tables that may be scanned by students to access surveys.

● The director plans to attend parent/teacher conferences to talk to parents about what their

students are eating and implement taste testing.

● Continue to encourage teachers and other staff members to use non-food rewards in the

classroom. Surveys show most agree it's best to use non-food rewards, but needed

suggestions on what those rewards could be. Lindsey Stevenson has sent reward

suggestions to those who participated. This goal was agreed upon to keep in place.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION / ACTIVITY

● We discussed the fitness zone goals and that they are measured by grade level. Pending

grade level, we have seen increases between 50-85%. Excluding 12th grade, all grade

levels have exceeded target. Baseline data for these goals were set at the beginning of this

school year. Physical Education teachers will reevaluate the students at the end of the

school year to see percentage of change. The Junior High and High School numbers

could be skewed a little because some kids only take PE one semester. Setting goals

based on previous year and focus on individual target growth goals. To be revisited and

restructured as a group based on each individual. Changed senior goals because of muscle

mass. Gauge based on proficiency in 2 out of 3: Pushups, curl ups, and mile run. K-12

teachers will collaborate on the last Friday in October. Communication to be sent out to

teachers previous to the meeting.

● PE teachers continue to work on a google document to track performance year to year at

the HS level. Share data regarding progression across grade levels keeping in conjunction

with the fitness program.

● We will continue to incorporate student wellness challenges at the High School. It is a

challenge between homeroom classes and minutes of physical activity. It is reported

participation is low per class averaging around 13 students. We had a discussion on how

to encourage participation and make time available to participate.

● K-5 students continue to participate in physical activities during breaks such as

GoNoodle, brain breaks or fresh air breaks. May need to follow up with JH and HS

administration and teachers to make sure students have the option to stand up or just take

a quick break during each block if needed. This action has been eliminated.

● Dr. Pyle would like to have an additional action step. Left open to ideas and discussion.

OTHER SCHOOL BASED ACTIVITIES

● Vaping is our main target for this objective. The goal is to decrease occurrences by 10%

by the end of the school year. Discussion to change this goal to not see an increase in

vaping or not more than 5%.

● Have had a significant increase of 94% in the High School of those caught and

disciplined. There is a district wide increase of 34%. The district lost $80,000

reimbursement from the state for attendance from those in long term out of school

suspensions and more importantly the missed learning and social aspects of attendance.

Long term in school suspension is issued after students have served a period of out of

school suspension time. Christy Pittman discussed bringing in or contacting parents and

Amberlee Miller discussed implementing NA or AA. Dr. Pyle stated many may not

willingly participate. Discussion on including in the discipline process or as an

expectation. Christy also mentioned contacting Freeman about cessation programs and

Dr. Pyle would also reach out to resources about successful programs.

● We will continue with the PSA information at Junior High and High School. Parents who

attended High School parent teacher conferences also received a flier with information

regarding the dangers of vaping.

● The High School currently has an education program in place. The Junior High and

Intermediate are also implementing the same program. Education at the Intermediate

level may help reduce numbers overall. Peer to peer discussions may have a greater

impact. We are also seeing an uptick in drug related incidents with THC pens being more

accessible with dispensaries in the area and student distribution in school. We could

promote an education program at younger age levels and more of an addiction program

for older students, especially repeat offenders. We had discussion on long term ISS

alternatives to being suspended with the full-time implementation of an ISS classroom.

● We have installed a vape detector in the High School and Alternative School and

discussed adding more in the High School. There are currently two in the district located

in the High School and the Alternative School. The detectors send alerts to

administrators. Discussion was had regarding the effectiveness of the detectors.

● NEXT STEPS

● Follow up with inputs and make revisions brought back to the committee.

● Reconvene to talk specifically about vaping to discover the best action steps.

OPEN DISCUSSION

● Dr Pyle reported that the General Assembly in Missouri, session before last, mandated

that every drinking water outlet is to be tested for lead. The district is working on

complying and there is a testing plan developed with Environmental Works. On October

27 they are taking samples from all water outlets, fountains, ice makers, and including

food service and preparation. Dr. Pyle stated he is not aware of any lead plumbing in any

of the buildings.