The School Board will drain some choices and profits from vending machines with its decision to offer only water and juice drinks.
By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK
Published May 19, 2004
BROOKSVILLE - Coke is out for Hernando County public school students.
So, too, are Sprite, Diet Coke and all other soda.
With a 3-2 majority, the School Board told its Food and Nutrition staff Tuesday to eliminate sweetened, carbonated beverages in all campus vending machines accessible to students. Currently, sodas are available at middle schools after classes and at high schools all day.
"My personal preference is we limit it to water, juice and Powerade. No sodas," board member Robert Wiggins said, becoming the third to take that stance.
The district has a responsibility to guide students to healthy food choices, Wiggins said. Over time, he suggested, any complaints that students have will fade.
The move would not affect booster clubs or faculty and staff lounges.
Board members indicated their desire to keep the district's five-year exclusive contract with Coca-Cola Co. intact. They wanted solely to alter the vending machine offerings within the company's family of products.
Julie Hooper, manager of the company's Florida education division, said Coca-Cola wants to work with Hernando County. She noted that Coke has a contract under which it offers only noncarbonated drinks to the Lake County schools.
But Hernando's contract with Coca-Cola has financial requirements that were devised based on students having access to sodas, which generate the most profit among the company's products.
"We just need to run the financials on it to see if it works," Hooper said. "We believe in school choice. We believe the students can make the choice as well as the parents."
Hooper told the board that she was having trouble seeing how it would be feasible to change the drink mix, currently about 60 percent sodas and 40 percent other, to 20 percent sodas.
The board decided to give Coca-Cola 10 days from the day it receives official notification of the proposed change to decide what it wants to do.
Part of the urgency, chairwoman Sandra Nicholson said, arose because the company suggested it would remove the athletic field scoreboards the board thought were donated if it ends its vending arrangement with the district.
Board members Jim Malcolm and Gail David, along with Wiggins, created the majority. They argued that the sodas should be removed for health and dental reasons. Although they were willing to stick with Coca-Cola as the sole vendor, they had no trouble with ending the contract and seeking new bids if the company will not comply.
"What they won't do," Malcolm said, "somebody else will."
