Dear School Leaders and Administrators,

Due to the progress made over the past six years on implementation of the Healthy Schools Act, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) will be transitioning away from conducting compliance visits related to the adherence of schools to their Local Wellness Policies (LWP). Instead, OSSE will be focusing on promoting high quality school health and wellness programs through professional development and technical assistance.
OSSE’s Division of Health and Wellness has been monitoring the progress of LWP implementation since 2010 and has noted significant achievements, including

• 99 percet of applicable school completed the School Health Profile;
• 100 percent of school sites were in compliance with the Healthy School Act and USDA requirements for healthy vending machine options, fundraising, and prizes;
• 100 percent of the schools prohibit all form of advertising and promotion of candy, fast food restaurants, or soft drinks;
• 100 percent of the schools were in compliance with providing 30 minutes for students to eat lunch;
• Students receive on average more than 125 minutes of health education per week; and
• 100 percent of schools promoted their LWP to faculty, staff, parents, and students by positing in on school’s website, handouts, or making it available in the school office.

OSSE is committed to building on this foundation by further supporting schools in developing quality policies and programs, and thereby, bolstering student achievement. As part of this work, OSSE will discontinue LWP compliance visits and redirect resources toward developing a new LWP template; online resources to align with that template; and a suite of professional development trainings to improve health and physical education programming. While OSSE may schedule visits on an as needed basis, our hope is that this new approach will provide additional time for schools to focus on implementation of high quality local wellness policies. While more information on these resources is forthcoming, please visit the Office of the State Superintendent website for updates and to utilize available resources such as the Health Education Standards [PDF] and Professional Development Catalog.

OSSE is relentlessly focused on finding solutions for improving student health while removing barriers for schools to do this work. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns at [email protected].