Naperville Community Unit School District 203 officials are considering whether to allow students to continue buying soft drinks in school cafeterias after parents raised nutritional and health concerns.
The district recently opened three bids for the beverage contract for the district’s 21 schools, Supt. Alan Leis said this week. He said administrators will study the bids before presenting a recommendation, which could be done in one to three months.
The current contract held by American Bottling Co., was last bid in 1999. The district is operating on a month-to-month contract with the company while deciding the issue, Leis said.
After administrators recommend a vendor, the school board has to decide whether soft drinks should be sold, he said.
In addition to the health issue, Leis said, another factor is the district’s promotion of physical education.
“We have some parents with concerns about the nutrition of what we offer in schools and that kids don’t think about making positive food choices,” Leis said.
Most of the district’s soft-drink sales occur at the two high schools, Leis said. In the last school year, administrators conducted a student focus group on vending machine sales at Naperville Central and Naperville North High Schools. Those students said they want more choices, such as fruit drinks and water, Leis said.
Early this year Gov. Rod Blagojevich and House Republican Leader Tom Cross of Oswego proposed banning junk food and soft drinks from school vending machines. The House elementary and secondary education committee passed the bill, but it was never called for a vote on the House floor, Cross spokesman David Dring said.
