On February 25, 2010, the New York City Department of Education (DOE) issued Regulation A-812 “to provide additional flexibility for fundraising while conforming to the Department of Education’s Wellness Policy and initiatives to improve the quality and nutritional value of foods and beverages that are available for children.” In brief, Regulation A-812 allows New York City public school students to sell any “approved“ items (from a DOE list) any time during the day in the chool “as long as the sale of the approved food items occurs outside of the school cafeteria.” Homemade food items, however, are not “approved” items. PTAs are permitted to hold monthly fundraisers with non-approved food items during the day “as long as the sale of the non-approved food items occurs outside the cafeteria” and complies with other specified DOE Regulations.
In response, as a New Yorker article entitled “Free Betty Crocker!” recently reported, a few hundred parents and children held a protest in downtown Manhattan to protest the bake-sale ban. This protest, however, appears to be just one of a series of actions reflecting popular unrest that was first triggered by the 2009 version of Regulation A-812, which included an outright ban on bake sales. Those actions included the establishment of a Facebook page, student petitions, and resolutions by community boards and a local school council. So far, this resistance by parents and children has not crumbled.
This post was originally published on the legacy ABA Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Notice and Comment blog, which merged with the Yale Journal on Regulation Notice and Comment blog in 2015.
On February 25, 2010, the New York City Department of Education (DOE) issued Regulation A-812 “to provide additional flexibility for fundraising while conforming to the Department of Education’s Wellness Policy and initiatives to improve the quality and nutritional value of foods and beverages that are available for children.” In brief, Regulation A-812 allows New York City public school students to sell any “approved“ items (from a DOE list) any time during the day in the chool “as long as the sale of the approved food items occurs outside of the school cafeteria.” Homemade food items, however, are not “approved” items. PTAs are permitted to hold monthly fundraisers with non-approved food items during the day “as long as the sale of the non-approved food items occurs outside the cafeteria” and complies with other specified DOE Regulations.
In response, as a New Yorker article entitled “Free Betty Crocker!” recently reported, a few hundred parents and children held a protest in downtown Manhattan to protest the bake-sale ban. This protest, however, appears to be just one of a series of actions reflecting popular unrest that was first triggered by the 2009 version of Regulation A-812, which included an outright ban on bake sales. Those actions included the establishment of a Facebook page, student petitions, and resolutions by community boards and a local school council. So far, this resistance by parents and children has not crumbled.
This post was originally published on the legacy ABA Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Notice and Comment blog, which merged with the Yale Journal on Regulation Notice and Comment blog in 2015.