Feds to Clayton schools: Ditch junk food or forfeit $14 million

Sports teams and band boosters will no longer sell Chick-fil-A sandwiches or pizza during school hours in Clayton County schools.

Nor cookies or sodas. Locks have been placed on all vending machines during the hours classes are in session. And candy fund-raisers between classes are definitely out of the question.

Teachers even were told not to hand out candy for Halloween during classes.

Clayton County schools have until Friday to rid their campuses of junk food during school hours or they face losing $14.8 million in federal funding.

“In order to protect ourselves and follow federal guidelines, we have to do this,” Clayton schools spokesman Charles White said. “We have to make sure we don’t lose any money.”

In June 2006, the U.S. Department of Agriculture banned non-nutritious breakfasts and lunches from schools as a requirement for schools to receive money under the National School Lunch Program. The USDA provides $37 million to Clayton to serve breakfast and lunch to about 74 percent of the district’s 50,000 students.

In January 2007, the USDA threatened to withhold 40 percent of the money when state and federal officials discovered Chick-fil-A sandwiches being sold during lunch at Mount Zion and Mundy’s Mill high schools.

Last winter, inspectors returned for a second visit and found Mount Zion High School was still breaking the rules, said Matt Cardoza, a spokesman for the Georgia Department of Education. Chick-fil-A employees were selling sandwiches and sharing the profits with a student organization.

Chick-fil-A spokesman Jerry Johnston said he did not have any information about the Clayton sales but said the company works with many schools in the Atlanta metro area. He said the company wants to make sure they follow all school guidelines.

The National School Lunch Program requires schools to meet specific nutritional standards. Meals must include a meat or meal substitute, milk, grain and two vegetables or fruits, said Debbie L. Haston-Hilger, spokeswoman for the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service. Pizza and fried chicken are allowed at lunch, as long as they are not served every day.

Federal regulations allow other foods — such as Chick-fil-A — to be sold during school hours, as long as all of the proceeds go to the school or student organizations, Haston-Hilger said.

However candy, soda or other food of “minimal nutrition value” are prohibited.

Clayton is in the process of implementing a correction action plan, which must be sent to the state Department of Education by Friday, Cardoza said.

White said Clayton schools are trying to be “extra careful,” and that’s why they have prohibited Chick-fil-A from being sold at schools at all, even if the proceeds are going to student groups.

White said the policy allows students to sell candy, pizza and other snacks after school. Locks are removed from vending machines after the final bell rings, giving athletes and other students access to snacks after school.

“It has taken us awhile to get this cleaned up,” White said. “But we’re now in compliance.”

Atlanta’s public schools also prohibit outside food from being sold during school hours, but allow groups to sell snacks 30 minutes after classes end, spokesman Joe Manguno said. Atlanta schools also restrict vending machine drinks and snacks to after school hours. Marietta city schools have similar policies, a spokesman said. Other school districts in the metro area did respond to e-mail requests seeking their policies.

The Georgia Department of Education said other schools have been cited for selling junk food, but no one has lost federal funding for their meals.

Clayton parents and students say they are unaware of the new policy and that unhealthy snacks continue to be sold in their schools.

“My kids don’t eat candy, because I taught them what to eat,” said Jonesboro mother Linda Smith. “It should be up to the parents what their children eat.”

Smith said her daughter, a senior at Jonesboro High, sold candy during school hours several weeks ago through the Future Business Leaders of America club. She said those sales are necessary to help pay for club trips, extracurricular activities dues and sports uniforms.

Shalonda Durham, a senior at Jonesboro High, said she wishes her school had Chick-fil-A sandwiches or other options at lunch.

“I don’t eat at school because the food is not good,” the student said. “They sometimes give us leftovers, and I don’t think that’s healthy.”