What's Good For The Body Isn't Good For The Bottom Line

What's Good For The Body Isn't Good For The Bottom Line

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Story Published: Aug 4, 2005 at 3:08 PM PDT

Story Updated: Aug 31, 2006 at 2:01 AM PDT

By Michelle Esteban

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SEATTLE - What's good for the body isn't good for the bottom line.

That's the dilemma Seattle public high schools are facing.

A ban on soda and unhealthy snack foods in the high schools has dropped the budget axe of extra-curricular activities.

"I don't know what we're gonna do," said Pat Jewell, activities director at West Seattle High School. When the district pulled the plug on soda and unhealthy snack food vending machines, it cut her budget by 90 percent.

"I come over here every day to where the soda machines used to be and say, 'Oh' and rub the empty outlets," jokes Jewell.

The snacks and drinks didn't meet new strict state nutrition guidelines. And the district's long time exclusive contract with Coca-Cola violated a new School Board ban on those contracts. So the Coke machines left in February.

West Seattle's Associated Student Body earned 50 percent profit on every can of soda. And now, without the vending machines, Jewell says the budget loses $16,000 to $20,000 each school year.

That means extra-curricular cuts.

"Pretty much unless we find another way to fund it (extra-curricular activities), it's gone," Jewell said. "We had a very effective mentoring program for freshman to help them transition into high school, that's gone."

The school newspaper is gone too, as is money for the marketing club and student store.

Leadership Training the school once paid for, now students have to pay for. And Jewell says there may not be enough money to transport students who play spring sports.

"Kids not having opportunities, that, I can't live with. We gotta find a way to fix that," insists Jewell.

A school district spokesperson say a partial fix is on the way. Another vendor that supplies juice and water, Summit Vending, just signed a 3-year contract. She told KOMO 4 News, "I don't think it's going to be as dismal, we need to take a look at it in the fall. We will have to do more fundraising and more creative thinking."

Jewell says students don't want water and juice, she thinks they'll just leave school to buy their soda somewhere else.

Up until now, every Seattle public high school has relied on soda and snack machine dollars to help fund their Associated Student Body budget.

But, the district says some of the bigger high schools have other revenue sources.

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