By Scott Miller
Staff Writer

Local schools often have one pot of discretionary money to spend as they desire, and the source is constantly under fire.

The money’s use is not dictated by line-item budgets set by district administrators and approved by elected school boards. And often, the dollars pay for after-school programs and extracurricular activities for students or school awards and other perks for teachers, and taxpayers don’t pay a dime.

But year after year, school officials wonder if the money pool will dry up under a social fight against obesity.

The dollars stem from vending machine sales, from sodas, from chips, from candy bars, from all the junk food high schoolers and middle schoolers eat during breaks at school.

Legislative persuasion

As childhood obesity rates climb, state legislatures across the country are addressing the matter, focusing on incentives to promote healthy eating in schools or limiting choices on school menus.

Some, like California and Rhode Island, have limited snacks and beverages available in vending machines, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

S.C. lawmakers considered a similar measure but tabled it this month, saying school menus are a local issue to be handled at the district level.

State Rep. Bakari Sellers, D-Denmark, said he intends to continue his push to limit fatty foods in school vending machines and called lawmakers’ concern over local control an excuse to keep schools from losing revenue.

The legislation would have banned snacks and beverages in vending machines for student consumption in elementary schools. In high schools, the measure would have limited selections based on calorie, fat and sugar contents.

Beverages would have been limited to fruit and veggie drinks, bottled water and milk.

During legislative hearings, soda companies fought the measure. Some schools voiced concern too, worried about the potential loss of revenue.

“The problem is there is a lot of money being made,” said Vivian Pilant, state director of the Office of School Food Services and Nutrition, noting a $1 million contract the Charleston County School District had with PepsiCo.

Health movement

Despite the Pepsi contract, CCSD supported Sellers’ legislation, said spokesman Elliott Smalley.

“We know that healthy and active students are better prepared for excellence in school and beyond,” he said. “We’ve also seen the alarming research on childhood obesity in South Carolina and are working to do something about it in Charleston.”

The district has already banned sodas with the highest sugar content, opting to sell Diet Pepsi products and Gatorade instead, Smalley said.

Berkeley County School District and Dorchester County School District 2 also cleaned up their offerings in vending machines, adding bottled water, juice and healthy snacks.

Berkeley County, for example, has fat and calorie limits and snacks sold in elementary schools and encourages high schools to adopt the same limitations, said spokeswoman Pam Bailey.

That’s a common practice at every school in the state, and every school district in the state has a wellness program, Pilant said. In 2005, lawmakers approved a measure that limits unhealthy foods in grade schools while promoting physical education in all grades, she said.

In spite of hard economic times, state lawmakers are actually putting more money in the budget for physical activity this year, Pilant said.

Revenue stream

But it doesn’t replace money schools earn from vending machines.

CCSD’s $1 million Pepsi contract expired last summer, Smalley said. Now, the contract pays just $35,000 plus a 45% commission on sales. The money funds, among other things, scholarships for students, he said.

At the Berkeley County School District, vending machine sales amount to $320,000. The money generated at the schools stays with the schools, Bailey said.

“It’s the only discretionary money they have,” Bailey said. “If they want to buy awards or if they want to buy dinner for faculty, these monies are available.”

Dorchester County School District 2 does not have a districtwide vendor contract, said spokeswoman Pat Raynor, but schools do have vending machines. They offer healthy choices, she said, and are not available in cafeterias. 

Smalley said, even if the state bans some fatty or sugary foods, revenue from healthier snacks could replace the lost dollars from sales.

But the revenue stream has dropped as Berkeley County replaces fatty foods with healthier options, Bailey noted. In 2002, Berkeley County schools brought in $576,604, or 45%, more than they do now.

If the only choice for students is to buy vegetable juice, they won’t buy anything, Bailey said.

Scott Miller is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at smiller@scbiznews.com.

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