JUNK-FOOD BAN EATS REVENUES EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES LOSE FUND SOURCE IN LAUSD.

Byline: Jennifer Radcliffe Staff Writer

Five months into the much-touted junk-food ban in Los Angeles public schools, the drop-off in revenue from sales of soda, candy and other popular items at student stores and vending machines has hit many campuses hard.

Sales are down by more than 60 percent at some campuses, costing them $1,000 or more each per week. The losses have left educators struggling to find other products to sell - such as magazines or wrapping paper - or turning to candy bar sales after school to support marching bands, field trips and other programs.

San Fernando Valley schools alone lost $301,820 in beverage revenue in the first three months of 2004 when Los Angeles Unified School District officials banned soda sales. Figures aren't yet available for the junk-food ban, which took effect in July, but officials leave no doubt that baked chips and low-fat ice cream have found few fans among the young.

``(Students) want to know when we're bringing back hot Cheetos, and they want to know who's to blame,'' said Van Nuys Middle School Principal Tony Delgado.

Added Bob Weinberg, principal of the Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies: ``We're losing a lot of money. The healthy-food snacks just are not real appetizing to the kids.''

While administrators knew sales would slump, they had hoped revenues would be on the rebound by now. Some blame the LAUSD's red tape for slowing down the number of healthy products on the shelves.

``The healthy food is still working. There are lines of kids that would like to buy stuff. There's just nothing to buy. There's not a wide enough variety of products to choose from,'' said Lisa Jones, community outreach coordinator at James Monroe High School, which piloted a slightly less- restrictive program last year before switching to the LAUSD's new standards.

While Monroe had a model program with increased sales, sales have slipped back to record lows under the LAUSD's new standards, Jones said.

Rather than $18,000 a month in student store sales, revenues are at $6,000 a month. Popular items such as fruit juice slushes and frozen yogurt were taken off the shelves because of bureaucratic snafus.

District leaders said they are working to iron out kinks and speed up the product-approval process.

``I am confident revenues will go up,'' said LAUSD school board member Marlene Canter, who spearheaded the anti-obesity measures. ``We had predicted we'd be in that dip. We have to do a lot of things, and they're all taking time.''

LAUSD officials are, for example, trying to centralize beverage contracts so that schools receive higher profits. They're also working to replace soda company sponsorship deals that brought campuses tens of thousands of dollars in extras.

``It's really like a double whammy. It's really bad across the board,'' said Ed Trimis, assistant principal at Polytechnic High School in Sun Valley.

Still, many people are grateful for the restrictions, saying youngsters are becoming more aware of what they eat. And educators are reporting fewer discipline problems and less trash on campus.

``I think they're a little less hyper,'' said Leo Krubsack, choir director at Millikan Middle School in Sherman Oaks, as he snacked on some red grapes during lunch. ``And my room's been a lot neater since they took the soda and candy away.''

Some students are even reading labels.

``We're eating vegetables,'' exclaimed a beaming Alicia Hechter, a Millikan seventh-grader, as she snacked on carrots and a diet Sunkist.

``We miss our junk food; we'll admit to that. But the food they're selling now isn't half bad.''

Her classmate Tessa Bohling, who ate crab rolls and drank cranberry juice during a recent lunch, said she doesn't need the official restrictions: ``I don't really eat junk food. I don't want to gain weight.''

But many students said they bring candy, cookies and Cokes from home.

``I don't think it's their business, really,'' Maddie Toll, an 11-year-old at Millikan, said about officials' attempt to regulate what she eats.

Others, however, said the move toward healthy foods was a must in light of mounting numbers of childhood obesity and diabetes cases. LAUSD students remain among the most unhealthy in the state, with only 15.5 percent able to pass all six portions of the 2004 state fitness exam, according to results released last week.

``It's for the good of the children,'' said Norm Isaacs, principal of Millikan Middle School.

Students bought more than 1,200 Pepsis on warm days before the ban - netting the campus hundreds of dollars. Snacks brought in hundreds more.

Candy and Cokes can still be sold after school - something that children admit is confusing.

``They say they don't want you to have it, but then they sell it after school,'' said Vanessa Famighetti, an 11-year-old at Millikan. ``I don't like how much it's there and how much they push it on you.''

Lori Baker, president of the booster club at Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies, or SOCES, said she's furious that the schools are taking such a financial hit. Good parents should teach their children to limit the soda they drink and junk they eat, she said.

``It really irritates me that they did that,'' she said. ``So many of the parents just don't want to be responsible. Bottom line, you see these kids, yes, many of them are obese, but they didn't get that way from buying a soda at school.''

Revenues are down by about 50 percent at SOCES, which could affect the extras that can be provided for students, officials said.

Delgado said the dip in revenue, while disturbing, is a small price to pay for improving students' health.

``No one for a long time had the moral courage to say these foods are no good,'' he said. ``Now they are.''

Jennifer Radcliffe, [phone]

jennifer.radcliffe(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

(color) Lily Gray, left, and Jessica Lee, both 15, share a salad for lunch at the Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies. Campus fund-raising is down by 50 percent in the wake of a junk-food ban.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer