The Buffalo Public School District (hereto referred to as the District) is committed to the optimal development of every student.  The District believes that for students to have the opportunity to achieve personal, academic, developmental and social success, we need to create positive, supportive, engaging, challenging, safe, and health promoting learning environments at every level, in every setting, throughout the school year.
Whereas in order to foster academic, physical, social and emotional growth and development, students need access to healthy foods, opportunities to be physically active, quality health education, including sexuality education and physical education, counseling, psychological, social and health-related services as critical components of a safe, healthy and supportive learning environment.
Whereas student health and learning are enhanced through school District employee, family and community coordination, integration, communication, cooperation and collaboration through the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Model; and

Whereas alignment of evidence-based programs or those grounded in research, practices, policies, processes, and services offered by school and District staff as well as community partners is essential to student success in school; and

Whereas the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Model supports strong community schools; and

Whereas physical, mental, and emotional health and well-being supports consistent student attendance and high academic achievement in school; and

Whereas parent, community, District and school-level engagement and coordination are essential and strategically aligned to the success of school, community and student health and well-being; and

Whereas the District supports positive, two-way communication built on mutual understanding and clear goals and objectives between students, community partners; and

Whereas the District shall use data to inform policy implementation as well as determine and respond to needs of students, schools and the District; and

Whereas qualified health professionals (school nurses) are one of the most effective ways to keep students healthy and in school, and to prevent chronic absenteeism; and

Whereas the District recognizes that many students with disabilities face significant barriers when attempting to access health and wellness activities. Additionally, people with disabilities have a higher likelihood of being obese, physically inactive and at risk for diabetes; and

Whereas sustainable student and parent engagement is essential to health and educational success, students shall actively and meaningfully be involved in their learning process through student-centered learning, growth and development; and

Whereas sustainable stakeholder engagement is imperative for supporting student health and learning, all communication and dissemination of information shall convene positive regard and be culturally and linguistically responsive; and

Whereas the District shall evaluate the District Wellness Policy and its implementation to enhance continuous improvement; and

Whereas the implementation with fidelity of all District policies, the New Education Bargain, New York State and Federal regulations along with quality professional development build capacity for the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Model (WSCC).

The District and individual schools shall commit to:    

1) Maintaining and supporting the district-level “WSCC Advisory Board” that is inclusive of members representing the WSCC Model in collaboration with District leadership (i.e. school board members, school administrators, district administrators and collective bargaining units).
a. District-level WSCC Advisory Board Well-being Committees shall ensure District-wide health and well-being by serving as a resource and support for school-level WSCC Teams and by providing representation on the WSCC Advisory Board.
b. Annual quality professional development shall be provided to each committee.

2) Administering the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (YRBSS) every two years with all students in grades 6-12 to guide data-driven inquiry related to student-focused action planning.

3) Implementing the Wellness Policy through ongoing communication and ongoing assessment to ensure transparent accountability.

4) Adopting and requiring Superintendent Regulations to guide quality implementation of the policy throughout the District.

5) Maintaining and supporting school-level WSCC Teams with representative membership reflective of the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Model following local, state, and/or federal laws, regulations and WSCC guidelines.  

6) Ensuring that each WSCC Team Leader has an assigned WSCC Team Leader duty each day.

7) Ensuring that each school-level WSCC Team:
a) Follow the WSCC Team implementation timeline issued by the District each year.
b) Include a parent and student to tri-chair the team when possible.
c) Follow identified WSCC Team and WSCC Team Leader roles and responsibilities.
d) Have representation on the School Based Management Team (SBMT).
e) Complete the School Health Index Needs Assessment (SHI) every three years.
f) Completing the New York State Heart Check every three years.
g) Utilize the school-level Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (YRBSS), School Health Index (SHI) and other pertinent school and community health data to inform annual wellness action plans and write wellness action plans into each school’s annual improvement plan (e.g. SCEP, SIG, SIP or equivalent).

8) Provide quality professional development to school-level WSCC Team Leaders (bi-annual) and core team members (annual). Each school shall send representatives to all professional developments.

9) Utilizing official Buffalo Public Schools’ website, along with other electronic and non-electronic means, to notify and engage parents and the community, in culturally and linguistically appropriate ways, about the content, implementation of, and updates to this policy as well as how to become involved and support this policy. The District will use these same means to inform the community about the availability of the annual and triennial reports relative to this policy.

Evidence indicates that health and learning are enhanced through school District employee, family and community coordination, integration, communication, cooperation and collaboration. Using the Whole School Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) Organizational Model, the District will implement the Wellness Policy accordingly: