- December 18, 2025
A new subcommittee under the School Health Services Advisory Committee has been formed to ensure Volusia County schools are staying up to date with the district's wellness policy.
The decision was made on Tuesday, April 3, during a School Health Services Advisory Committee meeting where members discussed the need to stay updated with requirements for healthier school environments.
Steve Parris, community health and outreach supervisor with Halifax's Healthy Communities, said the committee, which will meet for the first time next month, should keep track of any kind of progress made in regards to wellness. Currently, schools are required to set goals and submit them each year in addition to what was achieved and how it was accomplished.
Parris said the committee should also start comparing the county's current wellness policy to the Healthy Schools Program put out by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation to focus on improving nutrition, physical activity and staff wellness. For Parris, comparing the two policies will enable the committee to see where improvements need to be made.
"There are probably definitely some things that we don't have in our policy that need to be there with the expanded requirements," Parris said.
One area Parris said the committee would likely look at is the county's current policy on school lunch programs. The county's School Way Café is already required to provide educational nutrition information and resources to teachers. The requirements fall under the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the Sunshine State Standards.
One of the new subcommittee's members, Angelica Keene, public health specialist for the University of Florida, said that the state requires each district's wellness policy to be reviewed every three years. According to Keene, the subcommittee will be able to narrow in on new requirements and changes and then put those updates on the district website to keep the community updated as well.
"The main goal of the district wellness policy is just to kind of review overall the health and wellness of our students and our schools," Keene said. "We're just there to help in any way we can."
