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West New York, New Jersey
As districts across the country are looking for ways to cut more from tightening budgets, West New York has found a way to collect over one million additional dollars to help them fund their programs. Free and reduced lunch rates are the indicator that schools use to measure income level in schools. In turn, many federal dollars and programs are based on these rates. To accurately capture these rates may require coordination at the district level but, as the West New York school district discovered, the effort to do so paid off!
John Fraraccio, district supervisor of Health/PE and Healthy Schools Program champion and Sal Valenza, food services director, enlisted the help of physical education teachers throughout the district to help collect free and reduced lunch applications from all of their students. Once they had this information on the true number of students eligible, it enabled them to serve meals to those students but it also made them eligible for various grants and additional funds. As a result, from an initial district board of education financial commitment to wellness, staff has been able to attract grants, programs and funding that more than triples that investment.
The success of the wellness team to attract funding has enabled them to keep the wellness line item in the district budget, despite the current economic climate. The most important change is the positive impact funding these programs has had on students. However, another result of working with the Healthy Schools Program has been the coordination between various staff members and the schools wellness councils. Staff inform each other when they see opportunities and they work together to bring in programs and address gaps.
One lesson they have learned is that success builds on success. Community partners hear about honors, grants and the positive impact on students and they want to be a part of it. Many of the changes that come as a result of focusing on nutrition and physical activity are very visible. West New York has a USDA Fresh Fruits and Vegetables grant. Student fruit and vegetable consumption is up and it is visible in the schools and in what students say. Positively impacting kids is the reason all of these changes are being made. The visibility and impact are successes that everyone feels good about and it keeps efforts moving forward.
"Start it rolling and it just keeps rolling," Fraraccio said on getting funding. Valenza added, "We have learned to work together because of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation."
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