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How should a school handle a “do not resuscitate” (DNR) directive for one of its students in poor health? The Chicago Tribune reports that after a two-year discussion, the Special Education District of Lake County, Ill., has agreed to honor such directives, and district officials now find themselves in the unusual position of having planned […]

The Associated Press says that a University of Minnesota study has found that school lunch sales don’t decline when more healthful meals are served, and that more nutritious lunches don’t necessarily cost schools more to produce. Previous studies have concluded that students prefer fatty foods and that more healthful meals cost more to make.
The study, […]

Last month, David Warwak, a middle school teacher from Fox River Grove (Ill.) Middle School, lost his job after he began using class time to express his vegan beliefs to students. Warwak wanted the school to stop serving meat and other animal products in student lunches and said he wouldn’t return to the classroom […]

Schools around the nation have been striving to make their lunch menus more healthful, but they aren’t going far enough for middle school teacher Dave Warwak. The art teacher in Fox River Grove, Ill., who has been removed from classes for encouraging students not to eat meat, says he’s not returning to classes until […]

Not in Dave Warwak’s classroom. The teacher at Fox River Grove (Ill.) Middle School tells The Chicago Tribune he has been removed from his classroom after advocating his vegan beliefs–apparently a little too forcefully from the school’s perspective.
The Fox River Grove district won’t comment because the issue is a personnel matter. Warwak, who became a […]

In the mailbag comes a question from a reader about automatic external defibrillators (AEDs for the spelling-impaired). An AED is a portable medical device that can administer a shock to someone’s heart to restore a normal rhythm; quick use of an AED can prevent a death caused by sudden cardiac arrest.
Under ideal conditions and unlimited […]

What should schools do about families that don’t pay their children’s lunch bills? According to The Los Angeles Times, the Chula Vista (Calif.) Elementary District and other school systems around the country are proclaiming, “Let Them Eat Cheese.” When lunch accounts are in arrears, students are given one menu choice: a cheese sandwich. The strategy […]

In the Tacoma, Wash., area, another chapter in the School Soda Pop Paradox: It’s so bad for our waistlines, but so good for the bottom line. Without the fizzy drinks, budgets for extracurricular activities can fizzle. Is that a good enough reason to keep stocking the vending machines?

And, after they’re done with their dancing for the day, students shouldn’t be snacking on fried chips and soda pop, according to new recommendations. The Institute of Medicine, at the request of Congress, say that schools adopt standards for students’ snacks that would sharply limit calories, fat and sugar and encourage more nutritious eating. The […]