Code of Massachusetts Regulations
105 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Title 105 CMR 215.000 - Standards For School Wellness Advisory Committees
Section 215.100 - Standards for School Wellness Committees
Universal Citation: 105 MA Code of Regs 105.215
Current through Register 1531, September 27, 2024
(A) Establishment.
(1)
Each public school district shall have a School Wellness Advisory Committee to
encourage development of a program that actively promotes wellness in schools
and to maximize the school district's opportunities for grant awards.
(a) A regional school district may establish
a regional school wellness advisory committee to cover the schools within that
district. To the maximum extent feasible, each community within the region
shall be represented on the committee.
(b) Where a regional school district is
responsible only for middle and/or high schools, the regional school wellness
committee established by the school district also may cover the elementary
schools which send students to the middle and/or high schools.
(c) School districts that share a
superintendent may establish a single school wellness committee that covers the
school districts under the direction of that superintendent.
(2) The superintendent of the
school district shall appoint committee members, including a designee to serve
as a liaison between the committee and the superintendent, and ensure the
active functioning of the committee.
(3) The committee shall include at a minimum
representatives from a wide range of school health and health-related
disciplines, including school nurses, school nutrition and physical activity
staff, community agencies serving youth, parents, students, and the school
committee.
(a) Appointees to the maximum
extent possible shall reflect the cultural, linguistic and ethnic composition
of the community.
(b) To the extent
feasible, appointees shall include representatives of local boards of health,
school physicians and local health care providers, such as hospitals and
primary care providers.
(4) The committee shall meet at least four
times a year.
(5) Committee
reports, as well as minutes of the meetings, including the names of attendees,
shall be maintained and shall be provided to the Department of Public Health or
the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education upon request.
(6) It is recommended that school districts
consider adopting student wellness as a core value of the district.
(B) Committee Functions.
(1) The committee on
an annual basis shall recommend and/or review district-wide policies to promote
student wellness, such as those addressing health education and services,
school nutrition, the nutrition environment, physical education, and
opportunities for physical activity around the school environment. Such
policies shall include:
(a) goals and
objectives for the coming year, which shall be observable and
measurable;
(b) a process for
evaluating the progress to be made in the coming year in reaching the annual
goals and objectives, which may include the use by the school district of a
self-assessment tool;
(c) any
recommendations concerning the establishment or functioning of school
building-based wellness teams and school building-based initiatives.
(2) The committee on an annual
basis shall provide to the superintendent and school committee a copy of the
policies developed pursuant to 105 CMR 215.100(B)(1), including goals and
objectives for the coming year. The report shall include:
(a) an action plan which details ways in
which the committee may work with the school district and school personnel,
including school nurses, to achieve the annual goals and objectives on a school
district and/or school building level;
(b) ways that the school district and/or
committee might best monitor and evaluate progress toward reaching the annual
goals and objectives;
(c) ways of
developing community support for school wellness initiatives and coordinating
school and community initiatives on physical activity and nutrition;
(d) an assessment of the accomplishments of
the previous year and identification of work still needed in order to
accomplish the previous year's goals and objectives;
(e) a review of membership and membership
participation in the previous year and, as appropriate, a request to the
Superintendent for replacements.
(3) In setting goals and objectives, the
committee shall consider:
(a) suggestions and
recommendations from students, parents, teachers, school nurses, school
administrators, nutrition and physical education staff and other interested
parties;
(b) input from all schools
potentially affected by the goals or objective to the maximum extent
feasible;
(c) general public health
data, such as
1. student health needs
assessments;
2. assessments and
indicators of student health status and health awareness;
3. information from health providers and
public health officials as to causes of morbidity and mortality and possible
methods of prevention;
4. data
indicating the effect of health status on academic performance.
(d) information about current
school and school district programs and practices that might have a bearing on
student health, such as:
1. BMI screening data
generated in response to the requirements of
105 CMR 200.000;
2. status of food nutrition and nutrition
education programs, and food consumption patterns, including breakfast and
lunch program participation;
3.
meaningful opportunities for physical activity, including the amount of time
and the quality of the opportunities provided for physical activity through
physical education, recess and travel to and from school;
4. status of current school health and
behavioral health services and health education programs.
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