Arely Herrera, whose 9-year-old son attends Hoover Elementary, said she had been surprised when he brought home a menu of the foods served at the school cafeteria. Lunches for a week in September were a burrito, hamburger, corn dog, nachos supreme and pepperoni pizza from Pizza Loca.
"I wait once a month to give him pepperoni pizza," Herrera said. "But he gets that every Friday at school! They give him food he doesn't like, and he comes home from school starving. How are kids able to get good grades if they don't have healthy foods?"
Herrera has been an active participant in the Healthy Schools Coalition, a group of teachers, parents, students and activists who pushed for changes in the foods served at school.
Rosa Villar, 15, a 10th-grader at Downtown Magnet High School, is also a member of that coalition. Since elementary school, Rosa, who plays junior varsity basketball, has waited until she gets home to eat a nutritious lunch. By just looking at the cafeteria food, "you can tell it's unhealthy," she said. "I think that should change."
Supporters of Canter's plan include state Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell and Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, as well as such community groups as the Center for Food and Justice, Community Alliance with Family Farmers, the Los Angeles Food Justice Network, Public Citizen and the Verde Coalition.
Its detractors were mostly people who worried about how to compensate for the money raised by candy sales for field trips, bands, school dances and some athletic programs.
Birmingham High School athletic director Rick Prizant said that the limitations could mean the loss of "tens of thousands of dollars" that the school would be unable to make up.
But district officials pointed to two high schools -- Venice and Monroe -- where restrictions on the kinds of foods sold in vending machines and student stores have been in effect for at least six months. Those schools saw a dip initially, but now show only a negligible difference between money raised from healthful snacks and that from junk foods, they said.
Lisa Jones, a Monroe High School administrator who runs the healthful food program there, said students had been consulted when the student store was restocked with Rice Krispies Treats, spicy nuts and sunflower seeds. "We have brought them along every step of the way," she said. "We buy stuff in the store based on what they say to us."
The school board's other action Tuesday, modifying its policy on cell phone use, will allow students to keep the phones in lockers, purses or pockets during the year's trial run. But students will be prohibited from using them on campus during school hours, except lunchtime and nutrition breaks.
The district had to review its former, widely ignored ban on the devices after the state last year rescinded a 15-year-old prohibition against "electronic signaling devices" at California schools and allowed districts to set their own rules. The state change was a response to parents who wanted to be able to reach their children during emergencies.
Romer said he had allowed the use of cell phones during lunch and nutrition breaks after principals told him that they couldn't enforce a ban during those periods.
