The End of the School Bake Sale?

By Kelly Turner on October 9th, 2009

As long as there have been schools and organizations that need money, there have been bake sales. Parents making delicious cookies, cupcakes and brownies and offering them for cheap has always been one of the quickest and most lucrative ways to raise needed funds for our kids’ programs.

According to The New York Times, in an effort to limit children’s fat and sugar intake, the New York State Department of Education’s newest regulations have basically banned school bake sales- which are usually the biggest fundraisers for school activities like proms, dances, sports and clubs.

The three page memo issued last June spells out the new rules, which in addition to bake sales, also limits the types of treats sold in vending machines and in student run stores, which also raise money for school activities.

Parent groups and Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) are granted an exception one day a month, where they can sell sugary treats to their heart’s content, as long as lunch has ended. After 6 p.m. on weekdays they can sell whatever they want, as the Education Department feels at that time kids are out of the school’s hands. What kid hangs around school after 6 p.m. anyway?

Obesity is definitely a problem. According to the Education Department, roughly 40 percent of New York’s elementary and middle school students are overweight or obese. The department also found, according to a survey released in July, a correlation between a student’s health and their performance on standardized tests.

What’s next? No more Girl Scout cookies? I need my Samoas!! I am an adult, however, who works out consistently and is of a healthy weight. These kids are fed what their parents provide for them, and apparently 40% of them are fed enough to become overweight and obese. Programs that are already having their budgets slashed are now losing their main source of income. Many of these programs are the only physical activities kids get all day.

Do you think this is a smart move by schools trying to do whatever they can to help our children, or is the focus on bake sales like trying to stop a fire with a squirt gun?