GUSD TAKES HARD LOOK AT SODA SALES.

Byline: Nicholas Grudin Staff Writer

GLENDALE - Glendale public schools next year will likely ban the sale of soft drinks on campuses, a plan that has students and principals wondering how to replace funds raised through their sales.

Glendale Unified School District officials say soft drinks along with other junk foods are unhealthy, and schools should not be sponsoring sales when problems like student obesity are a major concern.

``This is not just a soda issue, this is about what healthy beverage and food options ought to be available to students,'' said Glendale Superintendent Jim Brown. ``I have a hard time distinguishing between a doughnut and a soda.''

The school board won't formally consider the proposed ban until spring, but Brown said a board majority clearly favors a prohibition on soda sales.

The Los Angeles Unified School District already has adopted a ban.

But on Glendale high school campuses, students and educators worry that they won't be able to sustain programs heavily funded by junk-food sales.

``About $90,000 of our yearly $200,000 Associated Student Body budget comes from the sale of soda and other junk food,'' said Hoover High School Co-Principal Kevin Welch.

Hoover ASB funds pay for programs like the yearbook, athletics and the student newspaper.

Hoover High School junior Jason Velasquez agreed.

``Most of the fund-raising for clubs and organizations comes from the soda machines. I'm in jazz band and chamber orchestra, and our funding comes from soda,'' Velasquez said.

On top of the day-to-day fund raising by student groups, last year all three of Glendale's major high schools signed five-year contracts with Coca- Cola worth about $60,000 for each campus. The deal means the schools must sell only Coke products on the campuses through 2006. It's unclear how a ban might affect those contracts.

Without the soda profits, Welch is unsure how to sustain extracurricular programs.

``This is really, really scary for everybody. There's been a lot of deep sighing,'' Welch said.

Soda sales already are prohibited at the district's elementary schools. At middle schools, programs are less dependent on soda sales so a ban would not have a large financial impact.

Earlier this year, the state Legislature passed a bill to prohibit soda sales at middle schools during certain hours of the day and to establish higher school-nutrition standards. The new rules will be implemented in 2004, the same year the LAUSD's plan will take effect.

The Crescenta Valley High School Associated Student Body makes up to $1,100 a week selling sodas, money that is distributed to various sports teams and clubs, said ASB adviser John Pehar.

``Nobody has a clue about how to replace the money, which goes to offsetting the costs of homecoming tickets and other student activities on campus,'' Pehar said.

Moreover, with the ``open lunch'' policy at Crescenta Valley High, which allows students to go off campus to get lunch if they want, Pehar thinks the students will just take their business elsewhere.

``About 20 years ago before we sold soda, there was a line of kids out the door at the liquor store waiting to buy soda,'' Pehar said.

It's better that the school gets that business and puts students' money to good use, Pehar added.

Students agree.

``It's not that hard to buy soda, and if you tell a teenager not to do something, they strive that much harder to do it,'' Velasquez said.

Brown hopes to get student feedback in answering some of the major questions that accompany the plan, like how to replace the lost revenue and whether other junk food should be included in the ban.

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Hoover High School student Narbea Mnasians drinks a soda during lunch break, but soft drinks may soon be banned at schools.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer