2022-01-04 00:00:00 - Joint Committee on Education
2022-01-04 00:00:00 - Joint Committee on Education
(Part 1 of 3)
[PART 1]
SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
[SEN LEWIS:] Good morning everybody. The public hearing of the Joint Committee on Education is now officially convened. I'm State Senator Jason Lewis, the Senate Chair of the Education Committee and I'm joined by my co-chair representative Alice Peisch. I would also32 like to recognize the other members of the Education Committee. Uh on the senate side we have Senator Sal DiDomenico, the vice chair of the committee. Senator John Cronin, Senator Adam Gomez, Senator Pat Jalen and Senator Patrick O'Connor. I want to thank them and welcome them this morning as well and now let me turn it over to Representative Paisch to say hello and to introduce the house members of the committee.
[REP PEISCH:] Thank you, Senator Lewis. Can you hear me?
[SEN LEWIS:] Yes we can.
[PAISCH:] Okay. So I was having a little technical difficulty just wanted to be sure. Um thank you, good morning. Um I would like to acknowledge the members, the house members of the Education Committee. In addition to myself, we have Steve Ultrino, the vice chair of Maldon, Smitty Pignatelli of Lennox, Representative Andy Vargas of Havrol, Representative Liz Molly of Boston, Representative Danilo Sena of Acton, Representative Kip Diggs of Barnstable, Representative Vanna Howard of Lowell, Representative Koseph Mcgonagall of Everett, Representative James Kelcourse of Aims Berry and Representative Kelly Piece of Westfield.
[SEN LEWIS:] Thank you very much,109 Representative Peisch um at today's hearing the members of the Education Committee will be taking testimony on bills pending before the committee related to health, nutrition and other miscellaneous topics. I want to thank everyone for taking time from your busy schedules to join us today to share your perspectives with the committee members. Um, we appreciate everyone's patience and understanding as we continue to navigate the challenges of conducting virtual remote hearings.
We have a very, very full hearing today with over 200 people having signed up to testify. We want to make sure that the committee hears from everybody who would like to testify. So I need to remind you159 all, I need to remind you to limit your testimony to no more than three minutes. And again, don't need to use all the full three minutes. You can make your point, I'm sure succinctly in less time than that and also um depending on how the hearing is progressing, we may need to limit testimony to no more than two minutes. Um, as we go through the the afternoon again, we want to make sure that everybody who signed up has an opportunity to testify and obviously we need to wrap up the hearing by the end of the day.
Um please note you'll only be called to testify once, so you should touch on all bills that you would like to testify on during your allotted time. We don't have the capacity to go back if you missed your opportunity when you were called to testify. Also, we strongly encourage folks to submit testimony to the committee in writing. I know many of217 you have done so already and um that is a great way to share your your feedback with us. And also if you have submitted testimony in writing, there's no need to also provide um oral testimony. You have the option to do so. But again, no need if you have submitted written testimony already, a copy of the agenda for today's hearing is available online on the hearings and events page and we will endeavour to stick to that agenda as closely as possible um out of deference to legislators and other elected officials, we do customarily take them out of turn. Um so we appreciate your understanding when we257 do so.
This hearing is being live streamed on the the legislature's website and it's also being recorded. Please please make sure the mute yourself except for when you are called upon to testify again, please as a reminder, make sure that you're muted at all times so that we can clearly hear the person who is speaking. Um I don't expect this to be a problem, but if anyone is disruptive to the hearing um you will be asked to leave and removed from the hearing. All right, so let's get underway. Um I don't recognize a few elected officials to testify at the outset and the first person I'd like to welcome is the main Senate President, Senator Troy Jackson. Senator Jackson. It's a great pleasure and honor to have you with us this morning. I'd like to now invite you to please go ahead and share your testimony with us.
[SEN JACKSON (STATE SEN MAINE):] [HB714] [SB314] Well, thank you very much. Good morning. Chair Lewis, Chair Peisch and esteemed members of the Joint Scanlon Committee on Education. My name is Troy Jackson. I'm a fifth generation logger from Northern Maine and currently serve as my second term as senator president here in Maine. Thank you for the335 opportunity to lend my support for H714 and S314 an act relative the universal school meals and for allowing me to offer my testimony on this important issue out of order.
Shortly after COVID-19 pandemic forced main schools to switch this remote learning. I noticed coolers begin to appear at the end of driveways all across my district. I soon learned that those coolers ensured kids across my district uh, could still access their school meals while learning from366 home. Those coolers were where school officials were leaving the meals throughout the day for those children. You know, food insecurity is a new issue for me. I have worked on it for years and I've lived it. But driving by those coolers every day was really a stark reminder for me that the shear number of kids relied on schools for healthy meals every day.
No child should have to go to school hungry, let alone be expected to learn, participate in class and earn good marks on an empty stomach. Yet this has been a reality for many kids across the country, although the national school lunch410 program and school breakfast program provides some students with the healthy nutritious foods they need to learn. The current eligibility guidelines leave too many hungry kids behind. It also, first, excuse me, forces school administrators and teachers to spend427 more time on paperwork and less time teaching those children. I know we can do better. It's why I sponsored new lawmaking Maine one of the first states in the nation to ensure all school children could access school meals free of charge. No questions asked.
For me, it's personal. It wasn't always easy for my family to make ends meet growing up and like most parents, mine worked hard to give me a good life. My father spent a lot of time in North Maine, Woods, as truck driver while my mother actually took the bus with me to kindergarten, working to finish her high school diploma so she could eventually become a teacher. Fortunately I qualified for reduced price school meals. The same is true for several of my legislative colleagues here in Maine, both Democrat and Republican. You know, that program was a lifeline for482 families like ours, but the stigma school meals remained. Some kids thought that I was rich because my meals weren't free while others looked down on you because they paid full price.
And then there were kids who struggled with food insecurity but didn't qualify for the program and went hungry while the quality of school meals program has greatly improved since my childhood with the inclusion of fresh foods from local farms. This very same dynamic remains today. In some states as many as one in three eligible students choose not to participate in the school meals program due to stigma and shame. According to Feeding America, many families experiencing food insecurity are not eligible for school meals. I really think we have to do better and our kids deserve better and the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that we are capable of doing better.
As a lawmaker and more importantly as a parent, I want Children in Maine and all across this great nation to get a552 chance to focus on being kids, on playing with their friends and learning how to read, not worrying about where their next meal is going to come from and who's going to pay for it. And I imagine that folks in Massachusetts want565 the very same thing that I do. No child should have to ever prove that they're worthy of nutritious food regardless of which state that they live in schools shouldn't have to go broke or jump through these outrageous bureaucratic bureaucratic hoops just to feed students. I really hope that Massachusetts will follow Maine's lead by offering school meals to all students and thereby other states across this country will do the same. The rest of the country should follow. I really want to thank you for taking this up today. I want to thank you for taking my testimony and taking me ahead. I really appreciate it and if I can answer any questions, I'm glad to. Thank you very much.
[SEN LEWIS:] Thank you so much, President Jackson. We really appreciate your time today. We very much appreciate your leadership and we appreciate Maine's example on this, on this very important issue. Um and again, thank you so much um to I want to remind the members of the committee that if you do have a question for someone who's testifying or if you'd like to share a comment, just text either myself or Representative Peisch and we will endeavour to recognize you right away. So again to members of the committee if you have a question or a comment, just text to text647 me or representative Peisch that we know to recognize you. Um All right, I think we will now move again. Thank you, President Jackson. Always great to hear from our neighbors to the north.
SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
[SEN JACKSON:] Representative Peisch I'm sorry I misspoke your name. Thank you very much.
[SEN LEWIS:] Thank you, sir.
[REP PEISCH:] Not a problem. Thank you.
[SEN LEWIS:] Thank you. Next. I'm going to recognize Representative Ultrino. Representative Ultrino I believe you're with us.
[REP ULTRINO:] [HB4138] Thank you. Thank you. Chair Peisch and Lewis for allowing me the opportunity to speak today on support of H4138. An act requiring accountability for inequities in suspension and expulsions which seek to better understand prevent and correct over-reliance on school exclusion and address persistent discriminatory patterns and the use of exclusion and the commonwealth with the passage of chapter 222 in 2012, the commonwealth was the712 first, was for the first time able to have a holistic view of where school exclusion was over used in which of our students bore the brunt of its impact.
Thanks to data collection, analysis and reporting which the bill required. Thanks to this focus on details in the limits which chapter 222 placed on the use of exclusion. Both overall rates of exclusion and disparate rates of exclusion for nearly every student group dropped sharply. In the years since 222's full implementation large disparities have persisted between exclusion rates for the general population in rates for students of color, low income students and students with disabilities and other students from marginalized backgrounds. As of 2018 and 19, black students are still suspended out of school three times more often than their white peers, while Latinx students were suspended two and half times more often and students with disabilities, two times more than the784 average student and the trends we can observe in our data, don't suggest this will change.
This bill would use the insights we have gained from 222 to improve the level of detail and analysis of data available and to set further limits on exclusion to ensure that students can continue to receive the education they deserve in the class. While also ensuring teachers and administration still have the recourse, they need to keep their schools safe. So we're not banning exclusion or suspensions. With the physical return to school this fall our students already cope with over a year of isolation and the impacts of this pandemic hitting the same students who see the highest rates of exclusion the hardest the need to take action833 to address these disparities now it's clear. We cannot wait another year of data without improvement to show that this problem won't solve itself.
With this in mind I strongly urge House 4138 to be reported favorably and thank you again for all your work, your time and your consideration and thank you for taking me out of order.
[SEN LEWIS:] Okay. Thank you very much. Representative Ultrino Thanks for your leadership on this committee and on this particular issue. Next I'd like to recognize Senator Rausch. Senator Rausch
[SEN RAUSCH:] [SB2516] Good morning chairs and committee members. Thank you for taking me out of turn and for the opportunity to testify in support of my bill Senate 2516. Thanks also to the numerous colleagues who co-sponsored this bill, including several who serve on this committee. It's essential to recall the events that led to my filing this bill. The Delta variant hit in June during the eight-day period between July 19th and July 27th. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC, and expert after expert at a Covid oversight hearing all stated that everyone in schools aged two and up should be masked indoors.
I also sent a letter to the governor co-signed by a bicameral coalition of our colleagues urging him to require masks indoors in schools consistent with the updated public health guidance. But on Friday July 30th Governor Baker rejected the science and refused to issue a school mask mandate. On Monday August 2nd I filed this bill. More than 200 public health experts, teachers unions, school committee members, principals and thousands more based datas all urged the governor to implement universal indoor school masking. Parents and caregivers scrambled to figure out how to keep families safe, but the governor dug in, even falsely asserting that his decision to allow students and staff to go maskless was consistent with CDC guidance. It was not.
In mid-August the Massachusetts Medical Society, the Massachusetts Academy949 of Family Physicians, and the Massachusetts Chapter of the American College of Physicians all called for universal indoor955 school masking for everyone aged two and up. Only after all of that on August 20th, just 11 days before our children went back into classrooms, did the Baker administration announced that they would implement a universal masking policy for all K through 12 schools. Colleagues here we are again, just 11 days before the current masking rule, however flawed is set to expire the governor maintains his intransigence against the data-driven scientific recommendation from credible health experts to require indoor masking.
Here's the kicker. Today, we're worse off than we were back in August last week, Massachusetts surpassed a million Covid cases. Just yesterday, DPH reported 31,000 new cases, 39 more deaths and 2200 Covid patients in hospitals. So it is that I must now ask, are we the lawmakers of this commonwealth going to leave all those people hanging as the governor continues to do? The governor is at least consistent for the duration of this pandemic going all the way back to the March 2020 decisions about closing schools. The governor has refused to implement data-driven public health protections unless and until his hand was forced. Although it1029 is the executive branch that should take this action given the governor's persistent failure to put science into policy, we must now act to safely keep kids in schools, protect families and help businesses stay open.
We do so by, among other things advancing this bill. The bill, which would sunset on June 30th at the end of the school year has three parts. One universal indoor masking in all K through 12 schools and childcare for everyone aged two and up. Two, protection against attendance, penalties for students getting vaccinated during school hours and three paid time off for parents taking Children to those vaccination appointments. Notably regarding the current masking policy this bill would fix an error, the 80% vaccination rate and1074 to fill a sizable gap, the exclusion of children under five. Experts inform me that the 80% vaccination rate has no scientific basis and no child under five is yet eligible for a Covid vaccine. Further, while I was very pleased that the paid time off component was included in the emergency paid sick leave extension that act will expire in less than three months.
Plenty of children are still not yet vaccinated or boosted. Each component of this bill remains relevant and necessary. Even if omicron is on average less severe than delta in its health health outcomes, its disruptions are proving immense. School and daycares already faced interruptions and closures this week due to testing shortages and sick staff. Parents will need to stay home to care for sick or exposed children and then get sick ourselves and even one more patient entering ahospital system that is already at capacity is one too many. The science and evidence are clear. We need a multi-pronged approach to combat COVID-19 and protect public health, including vaccination and masking.
Time and again the governor has stalled, faltered or failed to deliver the public health protections our constituents need and deserve. Thus, it is incumbent upon us to help students get vaccinated and require masks in schools to keep our kids and communities safe as we continue to weather this global pandemic. I respectfully request a swift and favorable report on Senate 2516. Thank you for your consideration and again for taking me out of turn and I'm happy to answer any questions.
[SEN LEWIS:] Thank you very much, Senator Rausch. You've been a leading voice for strong health and safety protocols throughout this pandemic. Um, and we appreciate it. Um I believe Senator DiDomenico has a question. Senator.
[SEN DIDOMENICO:] Thank you Chair Lewis. I'll be brief. I know you touched on, Senator Rausch, on what's happening in our schools. I'm concerned myself to be honest to you I have two boys in high school and I see what's happening in our schools with the masking policies and and how things aren't really being enforced across the board. What what what what is your feeling on Dasi's current masking policy and do you feel it goes far enough?
[SEN RAUSCH:] Thank you so much, Mr. Vice chair. I really appreciate that question. Um and appreciate your support for this work and your co-sponsorship of the bill. Um the DESE Masking Policy you know many people were thrilled to see it particularly for kids at the time who were you know in grade six and under who were at the time when it was first implemented. Not yet even eligible for a vaccine thankfully we are now past that point but the 80% figure um which is the level set in the DESE Policy for mask removal. Um 80% vaccination. I'm informed by experts has no scientific basis whatsoever. Um It certainly isn't hard immunity. It wasn't hard immunity with Delta and it definitely isn't hard immunity with omicron. Um and uh you know it seems to have been sort of picked.
Um because it's the rate that Vermont also set but we know that that is or the scientific community and I, you1270 know, urge the committee and its consideration of this bill to1273 to reach out to experts. And I'm happy to provide um you know connections with people who have really been on the on the forefront of this uh scientific research and study. Um 80% does not yield protection against the spread of Covid and again even if we are seeing um less severe health outcomes, right, fewer deaths definitely a good thing. Um But the impacts on our society are massive right? The more people that get covid, the more people are out of work, the more teachers out of classrooms, the more bus drivers1304 we don't have, the more daycares that will close we are facing very serious impacts.
In fact I'm seeing it even from the from the business community as well this morning um in an update from one of my district's Regional Chambers of Commerce. Um we cannot and and must not ignore the amazing uptick in covid transmission in which we now find ourselves and that 80%1331 figure is not going to be sustaining. Moreover the DESE Policy applies only to K through 12 schools and what EEC put into place does not pertain to any of the children in childcare because the policy does not apply to anyone under age five and keep in mind that these kids these are youngest1353 kids are not yet eligible for a vaccine.
So they have no protection whatsoever and no statewide requirement for those children aged two and up consistent with the CDC, the AAP, medical and public health guidance all across the board to be masked indoors and the governor has has persisted in his refusal to implement that kind of policy even though every expert is saying exactly the same thing. Um and here we are you know in the biggest surge we have ever seen heading into year three of this pandemic and we we as the lawmakers cannot wait we cannot wait and let our families continue to falter around in fear, frustration and confusion.
[SEN LEWIS:] Thank you. Thank you thank you Senator Rausch and thank you Senator DiDomenico. Um Just a reminder to everyone who is participating in the hearing that we expect everybody to to remain polite1414 and civil and respectful even if you have different views from the person who is testifying and unfortunately we have had to turn off the chat because of um some very disrespectful comments that have been posted there again everyone1431 will have the chance to speak and to1433 share your own perspective but we expect everyone to be respectful of everyone else's opinions. Thank you. Um All right next we're gonna recognise Representative Garlick. Representative Garlick you are up.
[REP GARLICK:] [HB597] Hello senator and to the1450 chairs and to the members of the committee I wish you a happy healthy resilient New Year I am testifying on H597 and1457 act relative to the reimbursement of school based care. I am deeply respectful of the number of people who will be testifying. You will hear from Jenny Gormley, the president of the mass school nurses organization. Um I have written testimony and I will work closely with the committee members. I ask your consideration. Thank you very much.
[SEN LEWIS:] Thank you so much representative and and appreciate you being so um succinct this morning. Um All right, let's see. Senator DiDomenico did you want to testify now on your bill or or wait1490 till the bill comes up?
SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
[SEN DIDOMENICO:] I can testify now. I'll be quick.
[SEN LEWIS:] Okay, great. Please go ahead.
[SEN DIDOMENICO:] Thank you. Chair Lewis, Chair1500 Peisch and the members of the committee. Um I'm testifying in support of universal school meal bill which I filed with representative Vargas and it is being led by a coalition of members and advocates and faith leaders and local elected officials throughout the commonwealth and led by by project Brad. This is an important bill for many reasons. Um as you know, I've been working on food and security issues for many years in the state Senate and we've made some very good progress in this area. But now with the pandemic and what we've been seeing prior to the pandemic, one in 10 of families across our Commonwealth with Children are food insecure.
The pandemic has only made that worse now it's one in five but1541 we can't go back to where we were even with one in 10 families. We have to change our current system of how we feed our children. We've invested a tremendous amount of money, Student Opportunity Act. We made an investment in our children and children they come first. We can have the best teachers, the best technology, the best buildings but if our children come to school hungry and hungry throughout the day, they're not ready to learn. And it's important for us to understand that there are many waivers the federal government is providing for us to implement this program. We're leaving money on the table, but we're not taking advantage of this program and it's an equity issue across the board.
We don't ask our students and families to pay for anything else in our schools but food,1583 which is a critical element of the learning process. If our kids are hungry, they're not ready to learn to take advantage of all the investments we have made in them and to their families. And I just want to end with with this because it really is important for us to understand this because about a quarter of the food1602 insecure children across our commonwealth do not qualify for free or reduced lunch or breakfast. There are many food insecure families that are out there who our children are eating lunch the day prior, that's their last meal until they come to school the next morning. That is a reality for many families across our state and the stigma attached to this as well cannot be overlooked on the first day of school, our students get a packet of information that they have to take home for their parents to fill out one being a free reduced lunch form.
Our children know what that means. That means they're gonna be seen as different in the classroom, different by their peers and they're not going to want to have their parents fill it out. So many of these families, as the Senate President mentioned, don't even don't even respond to that request for fear of being looked at differently. So there is a critical component here. We don't look for any other option in our schools to put on the backs of our parents other than paying for food. And that is really in my mind, not how we should operate as a commonwealth and as a country as1669 a whole. So I'm hoping that this bill does pass out of the committee to report on this committee.
I'm hoping that we take swift action to make sure that our kids are not getting left behind. And lastly, I'll mention that this is important because we can't wait for next year or two years from now. Our children are hungry today. The pandemic is not going away. The recovery period is going to keep going and our children need our help and we can do that. Thank you very much.
[SEN LEWIS:] Thank you so much Senator DiDomenico. We really appreciate your1701 strong voice and leadership on the on this issue of universal school meals. Um I see representative Doherty. Um I know you have a bill coming up. Did you want to testify now or wait till your bill comes up?
SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
[REP DOHERTY:] Uh I have to testify now if you don't mind uh
[SEN LEWIS:] Okay. Please go ahead.
[REP DOHERTY:] [HB572] Appreciate that. I really am appreciative of you taking me out of order and happy new year to everyone to the chairs and members of the committee. I offer testimony on H572 an act extending reasons for excused absences from school to include mental health or behavioral health days. H572 proposes to amend the law to include mental health days as a reason for excused absence. A mental health day is defined as when1744 a student's absence is a result of the mental or behavioral health of the student that's pretty obvious, need not be medically diagnosed. School staff should not be allowed to discuss any reasoning for the students' absence.
Parents or guardians need not give an explanation, but students should be offered the opportunity to1765 meet with the school counselor or other support staff but not be required to do so. H572 was proposed interestingly enough by Oliver Ames High School seniors from Houston now graduated in 21 as part of a class project. The summary provided by the students states that and I quote issues of a student's mental health and chronic absenteeism have been more prominent in today's society1792 to address these growing problems, we recommend they the students that legislation be introduced that would allow students to take two mental health days per semester.
Other states have legislation similar to this that has helped improve students mental health, strengthen their academic performance and have reduced chronic absenteeism. The research conducted by the students will be submitted by me as part of my written testimony. Recently MASS and MASC. Superintendents and school committees held their joint conference. One of their guest speakers, Dr Nadia Riley who specializes in depression prevention in adolescents pointed out that one out of every five students will struggle with mental health issues that cause miserable disruption in their lives.
Dr Reilly went on to say that the effects of the pandemic on student mental health may persist through to five years out with more acute cases emerging that need to be treated anxiety, loneliness and displacement issues often fester if they go untreated. At the same conference, a young person Isabel Coal from 13 Reasons to Fly a nonprofit that helps promote mental health awareness and suicide prevention for youth stressed the importance of actively promoting mental health supports in schools in order that students can access them before they reach a crisis point, adding mental health days may well be one of the ways to address this need.
A Harvard public opinion poll taken1888 last spring asked young respondents about their mental health, given that symptoms of depression and anxiety were on the rise among their peers. The results were staggering, 51% of respondents aged 18-29 felt down depressed or hopeless at least for several days out of the two weeks prior to the survey. H57 may well be the catalyst through which more honest conversation about mental health among our youth occurs. The stigma around mental health issues might be lessened and may encourage students to1923 seek help more readily.1924
By addressing this crisis among our youth through the simple act of adding mental health as an acceptable absence presents us with an opportunity to better the lives of these young people. We can't push this issue aside, leaving them to fend for themselves and finally conceptualised pre pandemic by the students at Oliver Ames H572 shows how far sighted they were in their ability to perceive the significance of mental health needs among their peers. I urge you to support this legislation reporting it out of committee favorably with all deliberate speed and thank you very much for the opportunity.
[SEN LEWIS:] Thank you very much Representative Doherty very much appreciate your leadership on the critical issue of student mental health. Um next, we're gonna hear from Representative Vargas. Representative Vargas, good morning. Happy New Year.
[REP VARGAS:] [HB714] Good morning. Happy New Year and thank you Chair Lewis and chair Peisch for your leadership and for taking in all this public testimony today, I will be very brief knowing that you have many more folks to hear from today. I'm here to testify on H714 a universal school meals legislation and want to thank my senate's sponsor, Senator Diomenico did such a great job testifying on the bill earlier. Um I first just want to quickly thank the committee2002 for their work on student nutrition uh and specifically the leadership of the chairs of this committee in passing breakfast after the bill community eligibility provisions legislation meal that shaming legislation.
This committee has a great history of moving the ball forward on student nutrition and that ought to be commended and recognized. This bill is the next step in the continuum of advancing student nutrition for all across the commonwealth. And as you know, for the past two years, every child in Massachusetts has had access to universal free school meals without having to justify or prove that they need them. And we know that less kids are hungry when we take this approach and that more kids are academically successful. And for years as a society, we've said that public education should be available to all regardless of means and providing universal free school meals are just as essential as universal free desks and visits to the school nurse.
We don't means test for those things and I think it's time we don't means test for meals and look, we should take the things that worked well during the pandemic and scale them beyond and universal free school meals worked really well during the pandemic and now is the time to begin the planning as to how we want2075 this to work on our way out into a recovery. And lastly we all know that Massachusetts is one of the most expensive places to live in the country and that's why we have so many kids that are food insecure but still don't qualify for free or reduced price lunch. That's why one in four kids that are food insecure don't qualify. And the bottom line is2095 that with universal free school meals, we know for a fact that less kids will go hungry.
More kids will perform better in schools and that's good policy, it's sound investment and it's a moral imperative. And so I appreciate the committee's deliverance on this and listening to all the great testimony that you have here today.
[SEN LEWIS:] Thank you Representative Vargas. Thanks for your longtime passionate advocacy uh to fight food insecurity among our students and thank you also for your kind words about the committee's leadership on when it comes to2128 student nutrition. You're this has indeed been a high priority for the Education Committee and we look forward to continuing2134 to work with you and our colleagues. All right, I'd like to now recognize Representative Gouveia, good morning.
[REP GOUVEIA:] [HB3782] Thank you. Good morning Mr Chair, Chair Peisch and members of the joint committee I will be really brief because I know you have very long hearing ahead of you. I'm here to testify in support of H3782 an act providing mental health sick days to public school students. I want to also acknowledge the work done by representative Carol Doherty on this issue. Her bills2163 are pretty similar both in the motivation and in how they2167 were written. Um I had students reach out to2169 me over the course of the pandemic and then leading up to2174 us filing bills advocating for mental health sick days. Um My bill, the one that I'm here to testify in support of is slightly different in that it just basically um will allow students to be able to take up to seven consecutive days for mental health need.
We know that we have tremendous needs nationally as well as in our state um around mental health needs. I myself have a 20-year-old and a 17-year-old, so I have definitely lived through this um you know, watching how my children in my own home are faring as relates to the pandemic um and understanding what their peers are2211 facing and conversations that I've had with other parents. Um we know that this2215 is happening all across our state.2217 It's also a topic of conversation um around the mental health needs of2221 our students, among our school committee members. Um I hear about this repeatedly, just everywhere I go in the commonwealth, just how concerned parents, teachers, pastors are about being able to support the mental health of our young people and allowing young people are allowing schools to be able to give excused absences for mental health days is just another way to acknowledge that mental health is health care.
It's a, it's a form of health and um, if we don't acknowledge that folks need to take a2258 day off to take care of their mental health, maybe they need to go see a therapist, maybe they need to seek longer-term treatment. Um, we're continuing the stigma against mental health by not putting on, on parity with, you know, cold or flu or stomach ache or, you know, a broken leg that a young person, a child might experience throughout the course of their day. So, um, just here to advocate for taking a look at this is something um, that some other states have done. Uh, Utah and Oregon have redefined um, an excused absence um, to include mental health. Uh, and we know that, you know, the pandemic is just really wreaked havoc um, with the capacity of our young people to manage stress, to manage their social interactions, anxiety is through the roof, we know.
Um, and we don't always have the support that we need for our young people and this is one way to acknowledge for them that yep, we understand that your mental health is as important as your physical health. So I appreciate you allowing me to speak for a few minutes out of turn. I can answer any questions. Look forward to working with the committee on seeing this through and we will be submitting written testimony as well. Thank you. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
[SEN LEWIS:] Great thanks so much Representative Gouveia and thank you to you as well along with Representative Doherty for your work on student mental health issues. It's much appreciated. Um I apologize, I cannot see everybody is in the hearing so I2348 can't tell if there's other legislators who are waiting to testify. So I'm going to start moving through the bills on the docket now but if there is someone just go ahead and text Representative Peisch or myself and we will try to recognize you at that time. Um the first bill on the docket today is Senate Bill 309 an relative to the availability of sunscreen for students. We don't have anyone signed up to testify so we're going to close the hearing on that bill. Next up is Senate Bill 379, an act creating a special commission to study classroom temperatures and we have Tracy. Darpino signed up um Tracy. Are you with us? Please go ahead.
Ms Darpino, I know you were signed up for more than one bill I believe but we would like you to go ahead and testify now on this and any other bills you'd like to speak on? All right. Last chance for Tracy Darpino. Okay so I'm going to now that was the only person signed up for this bill. So I'm going to close2418 the hearing on Senate Bill2419 379. We're going to move now to house bill 572 anact expanding reasons for excused absences from school to include mental or behavioral health. We just heard from Representative Doherty on this bill earlier. Now, we're going to hear from Aden Scully, Aden Scully you are up.
[REP SCULLY:] [HB572] Good morning2442 Senators and representatives. Um, it's an honor to be with you here today and to lend my voice to the continuing student activism in support of H572 an act expanding2451 reasons for excused absences from school to include mental or behavioral health. I also want2456 to take this time to express how grateful I am from a student perspective that this committee is endeavouring to address persistent issues including food insecurity and inequalities and exclusion practices in addition to mental health. I'll keep my remarks2468 brief since I believe the practical benefits of this bill have already been demonstrated. Uh, as Representative Doherty mentioned, my peers at Oliver Ames High School in Eastern have shown that the passage of a bill similar to H572 in Oregon made students more supportive, more inclusive and led to2483 a decline in the state's youth suicide rate.
I'm grateful that many people, including your counterparts in the state legislatures of Oregon, Utah, California, Florida and New York are beginning to recognize that students cannot brush aside their mental health any more than they can brush aside their physical health. Our education system needs to do much more to ensure every student in our school system is mentally well and H572 will hopefully be one of many reforms passed here on Beacon Hill that uplift our young people. But H572 is an incredibly important step because2511 it does more than just provide students with a legitimate way to call in sick if they're not feeling mentally well.
It creates a culture where it's2518 okay to not be okay. Students need to be healthy in order to learn effectively whether that health is physical or mental. By passing this bill, you send a message to students across this commonwealth that recognizing when you won't be able2530 to learn effectively is the responsible thing to do. If a student is fighting something particularly stressful or traumatic in their personal life, coming to school won't benefit them as much as taking a day off to make sure they can return ready to learn the next day at will. And even if it's nothing in particular, this bill encourages students to keep an eye out for themselves. It tells them that their success is much deeper than perfect attendance. For these reasons as a proud student and citizen of this commonwealth, I urge you to support H572. Thank you all for your time.
[SEN LEWIS:] Thank you very much, Mr Scully appreciate your testimony today. Phylis Darko are you with us? Phylis Darko. Okay so we're gonna close the hearing now on H572 and before we go to H636 I'm gonna recognise Representative Soter to give his testimony now. Representative Soter, please go ahead.
[REP SOTER:] [HB706] Hi Mr. Chair thank you. I was getting ready to send you a quick message. Thank you. Thank you. Chair Lewis, Chair Peisch and the members of the committee for allowing me to speak to testify on behalf of my bill H706. When I formulated this legislation, no one knew the current situation that these past two years has plagued this nation with this pandemic however has brought this issue to the forefront of this topic of vaccine exemption policy. As we see today no vaccine is 100% effective as cases of breakthroughs are on the rise which tells us that we need to rely more and2622 more on the trust of our medical doctors and health care system to guide us through challenges. We have also learned2629 during this time that the information and research2633 on viruses are fluid information and they2636 are on an every turning cycle and we learn more and more about this virus and the progress we're making against this particular virus at this particular situation.
I wrote House Bill 706 because medical professionals should not have to walk on eggshells and turn patients to religious houses to seek exemptions for vaccine requirements just to save face and prevent persecution from their employers. Alternatively, students should not be subject to scrutiny and face being blacklisted due to the false pretenses and social pressures. We must protect our school aged children from being blacklisted as additional social pressures may lead children to seek relief by taking their own lives. In a recent study conducted by the CDC and published in the morbidity and morality weekly report the MMWR2682 a stark statistics statistics showed that during 2020 the proportion of mental health related emergency visits among adolescents 12 to 17 increased by 31% compared to that during 2019.
2696 To curtail the secondary and secondary and implications of vaccine mandates we must trust our medical professionals and recognize the need for appropriate medical exemptions. In the absence of Bill 706, we will further strain our health care systems and deprive many students of the education they need. By protecting the implementation of medical exemptions of vaccines this bill would help ensure that our vulnerable children do not lose access to school. This is especially important to children with special needs, those complex medical and neurological circumstances that that may not be addressed by currently2735 available vaccine safety data and whose exclusion from school could be damaging at an individual and community level.
The proposal so far and and other committees committees will vastly affect communities of color where we currently have the highest vaccine hesitancy in the commonwealth when we are in the time when treating all fear and equitable any implementation of getting rid of exemptions would bring our communities of color to a disadvantage and set so many of our children and those communities without education system that is desperately needed to promote and advance equality. After all, choosing whether to receive a vaccine is a right that every American has and is one that should be made in partnership with ones healthcare provider without damaging repercussions to either party involved.
I will point to a statement that Colorado Public Radio just had from governor Jared Polis a democrat speaking on those getting the Covid vaccine said, you don't tell people to wear a jacket when they go out in winter and force them to wear it, he said, if they get frostbite, it's their own darned fault. If you haven't been vaccinated, that's your choice. I respect that. But it's your fault when you're in the hospital with Covid. Governor Polis is right. We can't force2815 people to do what we all think is right the right thing. But we know that those who choose not to will pay the consequences of their rights if they get sick. Bill 706 will allow healthcare professionals to present the facts regarding vaccines and their risks and complications and enable patients to make informed decisions, John Adams specific use of the word cherish regarding the legislature and education has been deemed2841 by the SJC as creating an obligation and public duty to provide a free and appropriate public education for all Massachusetts children.
I understand we all have very deep points of views on exemptions of vaccines but let us not lose our way on making sure2859 we follow through on the obligation to a free and appropriate public education for all of our students. The implications of not passing this bill are far reaching and will affect everyone in this room. I ask that you truly consider the strain on our healthcare professionals as you process what relief this bill can bring. Thank you for the opportunity to speak out of turn and I'm willing to2884 answer any questions that you may have and I have also submitted a more detailed written uh testimony to the committee. Thank you Mr Chair and Madam Chair.
[SEN LEWIS:] Thank you Representative Soter um just want to let2899 everybody know. Um I have been a bit lax in enforcing the three minutes um maximum time for testimony, but again we do have several 100 people um waiting to testify. And so I just I am going2913 to have to uh be a lot stricter in enforcing the time limit going forward. Um So moving on now to House Bill 636 an act establishing a commission to study mental health education requirements in public schools. Um we have Evyenia Georges signed up to testify and I see you Miss Georges and I'm sorry if I mispronounced your name, please go ahead.
[EYVENIA GEORGES (CONCERNED CITIZEN):] [HB636] No problem at all. Thank you so much for allowing me to testify. My name is Evyenia Georges. I'm a junior at Linfield High School here in Massachusetts. I'm here to testify in favor of Bill H636 to support the study of mental health education in public schools. I am speaking today on behalf of the mental health of all high school students in the state. According to the Pew Research Center, 70% of US teens say anxiety and depression is a major problem among people their age in the community where they live. Supporting mental health is crucial. Through my personal experiences as a teen and seeing family members struggle with mental health related issues I'm very passionate about creating2980 awareness and acceptance from the subject.
The more we educate youth about mental health and add it to our everyday conversations. Mental health will become an accepted struggle to deal with in the community. I agree with the statewide commission that is needed to create a unified force across the state to support mental health related issues and representation on the commission. I strongly feel that after reading section two of the bill, youth voices needed on the commission. The bill directly targets the better education of youth so they should share their direct experiences to influence the change. On a local level at Linfield High school, there is a need for more mental health education and support for the students and teachers. Right now Linfield High School students are only provided one semester in 9th grade of health education and within this semester there is not one mental health component, but there needs to be.
It isn't a coincidence that right now there are three active civics projects that are focusing on the need for mental health education and training for teachers to adequately support the needs of students. After the past two years with the ongoing pandemic, many students have been sent into states of sadness or stress. More than ever mow as a part of our recovery from the pandemic, as we've got the vaccine, we need to educate our youth about mental health to move forward as a stronger society. As a youth leader I am the founder of a mental health awareness and policy organization named Wipe Out Stigma. Last month I hosted a Q and A session to welcome our new members to the group. I was immediately met with an overwhelming number of personal experiences3080 from each member that3081 they willingly shared with the group.
Everyone shared some ways that mental health negatively impacts their life3087 and how much there is a need for education and acceptance around the subject. After the first meeting, I was taken aback by the fact that all of these youth across Massachusetts showed that they want and need more mental health education in their communities from all over the state. These are all different 19 youth from all across Massachusetts, people are crying out for a way to bring this to the forefront and especially youth. So because of this I support Bill H636.3118 Thank you all for listening and a special thank you to Representative Mr Bradley Jones for sponsoring this bill. Thank you.
[SEN LEWIS:] Thank you so much Miss Georges, great job with your testimony and we are so impressed with your leadership on student mental health and keep up the good work. All right, so we're going to close the hearing now on H636, moving on to H3782 an act providing mental health sickdays to public school students. We heard from Representative Gouveia on that bill earlier, we're going to close the hearing on that bill. House Bill 4225 an3152 act relative to suicide prevention in schools. We don't have anyone signed up so we'll close the3157 hearing on that bill. House Bill 630 an act relative to emergency stock epinephrine in schools. Um we're going to close the hearing on that bill. House Bill 597 and also House Bill 669 an act relative to the reimbursement of school-based care. We3174 heard from Representative Garlick earlier and now I'd like to welcome Jenny Gormley for her testimony. Mrs Gormley, please go ahead.
[JENNY GORMLEY (MSNO):] [HB597] [HB669] [HB809] Thank you chairs Lewis, Peisch and members of the joint committee on education for the opportunity to speak to you today and thank you Rep Garlick for um, speaking about the bill which you filed for the Massachusetts School Nurse Organization, also known as MSNO. My name is Jenny Gormley. I'm the immediate past president of MSNO I just want to clarify my role. Our current president, president elect would have liked to testify, but they are very busy in schools right now as you know with the school reopening after the break and all that's going into testing, covid testing and tracing tests to stay programming
So we're asking for you to favorably review House Bill 597 an act relative to the reimbursement of school based care and also the related bills, House Bill 669 and 809. In these bills, we are asking that nurse-generated school-based Medicaid funds3247 be returned directly to school health services programming, which may include behavioral health assessment, case management, health education, social-emotional learning and health support and other related school health services. Um As you may know, these funds are currently returned directly to municipalities across the commonwealth, except for regional school districts that have the funds returned directly to them to use.
Beginning in September of 2019, the Commonwealth expanded um put3280 into place the updated school-based Medicaid Plan, which was an expansion of billing to support services provided to Medicaid eligible students and local education agencies3293 by licensed providers, including school nurses. We support this legislation for the following reasons and I think we all agree that school-aged children in Massachusetts deserve to be healthy, safe and ready to learn in school direct nursing services provided to Medicaid eligible students will support educational achievement for all students. Every child needs access to a full time school nurse during the hours they attend school.
Um, we know that education dollars and LEA budgets funding school health services programming are dwindling. School based Medicaid monies could provide revenue stream to help support this programming. And the Covid pandemic has made it clear that school health infrastructure, including school nurses are critical for keeping students in school learning. We know that 94% of our MSNO members support3348 this legislation. We have 2400 school nurses in the state of Massachusetts. And we also know that school health services saves money for every dollar invested in school health services programming. Society saves $2.20 as a conservative estimate.
So on behalf of the 800 members of MSNO and the estimated 2400 school nurses3373 in Massachusetts we thank you for your support of this legislation and um, we ask for your support in improving access to learning for all Massachusetts atudents happy to take questions.
[SEN LEWIS:] Thank you so much, Miss Gormley, thanks for your testimony on this bill and uh let me use this opportunity to say how grateful we are to all of our school nurses who have been working incredibly hard for the last two years and really on the front lines of this pandemic and we are so appreciative of our school nurses.
[GORMLEY:] Thank you, Senator Lewis, I really appreciate that comment and we'll share it with my colleagues. Thank you.
[SEN LEWIS:] Thank you so much. Alright, we're going to close the hearing now on H597 and H669. Moving on to Senate Bill 809 we're going to close the hearing on that bill. That brings us to House Bill 564 and Senate Bill 363 an act relative to healthy school lunches and I would like to recognize Dr Jacob Mirsky to kick us off on this bill. Dr Mirsky, welcome.
[JACOB MIRSKY(CONCERNED CITIEZEN:] [SB363] Thank you. Good morning. Thanks for allowing me to testify in favor of S363 an act relative to healthy school lunches. My name is Jacob Mirsky and I'm a primary care physician taking care of adults from revere and surrounding communities. And although the act under consideration is focused on school lunches for children, the impact of this bill will be felt in my clinic and those of primary care physicians across the state for decades to come. That's because as an adult primary care doctor, I consistently see the negative effects of unhealthy diets that drives disease and death, for example, the CDC estimates that the number one and number two leading causes of death in the United States are heart disease and cancer except for covid this year and last year, presumably, both of which are largely connected to dietary quality and in fact, the 2000 and four analysis of actual causes of death in the United States in 2000 showed that behind tobacco poor diet and physical activity accounted for 400,000 deaths in the United States each year
The understanding of this connection is quite clear. Unprocessed plant based foods are among the healthiest options that we know of. In contrast, processed foods lead to inflammation throughout the body, that drive disease and death. And so when I see patients as an adult for many of them, unfortunately, the horse has left the barn. I see patients years, if not decades after which lifestyle interventions focused on healthy diet can have the biggest impact on health. So what can we do? A 2007 analysis published in the New England Journal of Medicine on the determinants of premature death showed that although the health care system receives the largest share of resources for health and wellness in this country, inadequate health care in this country only accounts for about 10% of premature deaths, largely due to issues related to access.
On the other hand, a combined 60% of premature deaths result from behavioral patterns, social circumstances and environmental exposures, all factors that we have control over outside of the health care system. And this is where the concept of lifestyle medicine comes into play lifestyle medicine advocates for evidence based3575 lifestyle programs that take place outside of the clinic and hospital walls. In fact, the United States preventive services task force recommends that all adults with risk factors3586 for heart disease, receive behavioral counseling to promote a healthy diet and physical activity and the American Heart Association in 2019 said quote, the most important3595 way to prevent cardiovascular disease is to promote a healthy lifestyle throughout life.
I'm here to testify in favor of plant based diets, which now have an overwhelming consensus showing that they are the healthiest diets available. These can include the Mediterranean diet as well as several diets supported by the American Heart Association, the American Diabetes Association and other national organizations. So in summary my patients in our communities need legislation like S363. We need to promote not just food security but also nutritional security. We need programs that reside outside of health care that will impact the health of our residents. We need to focus on lifestyle factors that account for the vast majority of health as well as disease. We need to start as early as possible and nutritional security programs such as this act accomplished all three. Thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it.
[SEN LEWIS:] Thank you so much, Doctor Mirsky. Thank you for your very helpful testimony to3660 the committee today. Um Next, I'd like to welcome Alexis Fox. Alexis, you're up.
[ALEXIS FOX (CONCERNED CITIZEN):] Good afternoon, Thank you so much. Senator Lewis and other members of the education committee. My name is Alexis Fox. I live in Winchester and I'm testifying in support of the healthy school lunch bill. Although I am not an RD Or nutritionist, I know enough to be dangerous. Seven years ago I co founded my nutrition software company. Our team of RDs and nutritionists developed healthy meal planning software to help families all around the world eat better and our SaaS has been used in 134 countries. Most importantly, I am the mother of a lively two year old and I hope we3706 can improve school lunch before she starts school.
Currently, parents who can3712 afford to send their Children to school with a healthy lunch are forced to swim upstream. Our veggie homies wraps are going head to head with nachos and cheese or pepperoni pizza. As anyone with kids knows it can be challenging to get your little one to eat food that is truly nourishing when junk is also being offered. I have two beautiful stepdaughters in school and see this play out regularly. Meanwhile, parents who cannot afford to send their children to school with a healthy meal are forced to allow their kids to eat highly processed or fried foods daily. I have already spoken to many of you about this issue and I realized that you understand our3751 school lunches are in dire need of improvement. Many3754 of you3755 have expressed relief that this legislation puts the burden of doing something about it on the food service companies that profit off of selling food to school Children rather than putting the burden on the schools.
And I applaud this committee for working on vital food security legislation.3772 Thank you. It is now time that we also address nutritional security. Our babies need calories first. But of course the quality of3780 those calories will have a lasting impact not only on each child's day, but cumulatively the quality of those calories will impact their ability to learn over time. It will impact the strain that we put on our health care system and the strain that employers face when we bear the enormous health care costs that come with chronic disease management, which is closely related to diet. We are very fortunate to have some globally recognized nutrition experts who live in the commonwealth today. You're hearing from some of them, others have submitted written testimony.
I'll just leave3815 you with this one statistic Seven out of 10 American deaths are caused by preventable chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity, etc. Lunch is also about learning. Our kids are developing life-long eating habits based in3829 part on the foods they consumed during school lunch. Let's help them develop healthy eating habits prevent chronic disease. This bill presents us with a fantastic opportunity to do, to do just that. And it is my great hope that you will give it a favorable recommendation. Thank you so much.
[SEN LEWIS:] Thank you very much, Miss Fox and thanks for your terrific leadership on this issue and uh and for leading the health mass healthy school lunch coalition. Um I want to recognize next Dr Alan Kornberg. Dr Kornberg are you with us?
[KORNBERG:] Thank you. Can you hear me okay?
[SEN LEWIS:] Yes, yes we can. Good afternoon.
[ALLAN KORNBERG (CONCERNED CITIZEN):] Good, thank3877 you. Thank you. Mr Chair, madam Chair and members of the committee. My name's Alan Kornberg, I'm a pediatrician. I live in Duxbury. It's a delight and a pleasure to be able to spend a few minutes with the committee. Uh a bit of a challenge following Dr Mirsky and Alexis who are highly accomplished and and knowledgeable aside from practicing. I'm of course here to speak on behalf of in favor of the healthy school lunch program bill. Um in addition to my clinical practice many years in the past and primary care pediatrics um and in a teaching hospital I for a number of years was first medical director and then CEO of Network health when it was part of the Cambridge Health Alliance, which is a as many of you know, isa health plan for impoverished people in the commonwealth.
And I'm now medical director for an organization called the International Organization called Physicians Association for Nutrition and we work in the US and Europe and globally on the benefits of healthy nutrition for people of all ages including of course children. I3938 was I'll make a few comments on the science side momentarily but just as a brief and I know we have limited time a brief anecdote. I asked one of my colleagues who is our nutrition director and a PhD in uh something registered dietitian, a PhD in nutrition she got her PhD at the UC Davis. Her advice and what she would say to this committee in a few minutes and she's a deep scientist and instead she started by talking about she was homeless when she was 12 years old.
And uh, and the school lunch was her only healthy meal in her safe space. And she, she almost brought tears to my eyes in terms of talking about the, the lunch ladies and having a salad bar at her3977 school and and and the depth of importance of school lunches to, to those of us that aren't privileged like like I3982 was when I, when I grew up and so that got my attention more than some of the journal articles that the two of us share and talk about all the time. And as Dr Mirsky and Alexis both said the for all of us starts with food security, you have to have enough to eat. And nutrition security is, is absolutely critical. We need to feed our children and and all of us healthy food. My my organization is is launching programs in India and China and Brazil aside from in the US and Europe and um, it's not that different in those countries as well.
We talk about the importance and the equity issues around nutrition security that we we all are entitled to starting with our children to be able to have access to healthy food being a doc and a pediatrician on the science side. Just to remind the committee obesity and of course type two diabetes are increasingly critical issues in pediatrics, especially in adolescent medicine. Um and the practice of preventative cardiology keeping our children from having heart attacks and strokes and the rest as they become middle aged adults. Healthy nutrition as a as a start is the single most important intervention. There's a study published in the Nutrients International Journal just a few months ago which showed that children will be in a predominantly plant based diet have consistently4064 lower LDL bad cholesterol and uh sorry, bad uh fatty acid and higher cholesterol levels as well.
There's been a number of studies of teenagers and young adults who who died in trauma and and their coronary arteries already have significant plaque. So this happens early, not not late, healthy meals are important for the whole family and children and their diets at school can be catalyzing for their families as well. Um, and while well this, this bill and this measure is important for for all children in the commonwealth, it's particularly particularly important for those who are disadvantaged. It's a it's a critical equity issue and and I am I'm proud to be able to speak on behalf of it and, and delighted that the committee is entertaining this bill. So thank you very much.
[SEN LEWIS:] Thank you so much Dr Kornberg and we greatly4112 admire and appreciate your leadership locally and globally on when it comes to youth nutrition. Thank you. Um, Next, we're gonna hear from Kelly Garrity. Kelly Garrity
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[GARRITY:] Hi, can you guys hear me?
[SEN LEWIS:] Yes. Hi, Please go ahead.
[KELLY GARRITY:] [SB363] Good morning Chair Lewis, Chair Peisch and the members of the Joint Committee on Education. Thanks for having me this morning. Um, my name is Kelly Garrity. I'm a senior at Northeastern University and an avid long distance runner. Um, and I'm here today in support of the Massachusetts healthy school lunch bill. Um, thank you all for the opportunity to share why this bill is so important to the state of Massachusetts. Um, I grew up in Walpole Massachusetts and I've always been an athlete. Um, I played soccer, basketball across for pretty much my whole4164 life. Um, and I also ran track my junior and senior years of high school. Um, and growing up, my diet was pretty standard, the typical kind of American diet largely composed of processed foods similar to the foods that are being served in public schools across the state on a regular basis.
Um, and I was always a pretty good athlete. I was captain of a couple of my teams4186 in high school. Um, and I considered playing at the collegiate level. Um, however, when I got to college, I continued playing the sports that I loved. Um but living on my own for the first time I started making a point to sort of eat healthier and consume more fruits, vegetables, whole foods, grains, proteins. Um and I really reduced sort of my consumption of the highly processed foods that had just sort of been put in front of me in school in my whole life. Um and almost immediately I kind of noticed sort of um that my athletic performance was really drastically improving across the board. I was running faster and longer distances. Um I was less tired pretty much all the time and just generally performing better.
Um I also ran my first marathon, um something I never4234 thought I would be able to do4236 in high school. Um but I ran my first marathon with ease something that was kind of just surprising to me. Um I never really thought about what I was fueling my body with when I was growing up and then suddenly I realized that me and my teammates in high school, um and even younger we had just sort of been eating whatever was being served to us without realizing how this highly processed food was really hindering our athletic performances. Um and the food we were being served at school. It's definitely made us more lethargic, made it harder for us to build muscle and sort of create become better athletes. Um while also contributing to a public health crisis, that is completely4279 preventable.
The Massachusetts healthy school lunch bill is an opportunity for lawmakers to ensure that kids across the state can reach their athletic potential. Um, school lunches shape our dietary habits for years to come. Thank you for your consideration and I hope you guys recognize the the importance of this legislation.
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[SEN LEWIS:] Thanks a lot Miss Garrity for testifying and congratulations on finishing your first marathon. That's, huge accomplishment. All right. Um, next I'd like to recognize Nerva Patel, Miss Patel, are you with us?
[PATEL:] I am.
[SEN LEWIS:] Great, hi.
[NIRVA PATEL:] [SB363] Hi, thank you Senator4324 Peisch, Senator Lewis and members of the Education Committee for allowing me to speak and show my support of S363 and act to healthy school lunches. I live in Weston, but I grew up in Ashland and I have four children4341 ages 10, 11, 12 and4343 13 who wish they had healthier lunches at school. The current guidelines are not enough for our children. We need4353 to have more fibre rich proteins, reduce highly processed foods, cholesterol and saturated fats in school cafeterias. My kids have observed that most kids will eat the fatty unhealthy food because they don't actually get that at home. Some school lunches will even serve orange nacho cheese with bacon in it. My kids have seen other kids vomit after eating several hot dogs. I truly believe that if we give children choice and good healthy choices, we can change their lives and eating patterns forever.
The World Health Organization has classified processed meats including ham, bacon, salami and Frankfurt's as group one carcinogens, which means that there is strong evidence that processed meats like those cause cancer instead of processed meats. Can we serve legumes lentils, chickpeas, foods that may4411 even represent the student4412 body more. Unfortunately, busy parents within the school community , have to take time out of their day to lobby for good foods for the Children of Massachusetts. Isn't this something that we as a commonwealth, should encourage by voting yes on bill S3634427 will make a long term impact on Children who will then be able to thrive due to their healthy meals at school. More and more kids understand the importance of healthy plant based foods.
It's our school systems that have to catch up with the science. When children eat better, they're less tired, they're less anxious. Studies have shown that a high fiber diet increases the feeling of fullness, which allows kids to then maintain a healthy weight. We all know that a high fiber diet can help prevent heart disease and diabetes. The fiber in seeds acts as a prebiotic that feeds a child's healthy gut bacteria and research shows that this balance in the gut can reduce anxiety so eating well can make you feel mentally better, physically better according to a study published in the BMJ nutrition prevention and health researchers found a strong association between fruit and vegetable consumption and higher mental wellbeing scores in high school students.
In fact, those who consumed five or more servings on vegetables and fruits had higher wellbeing scores compared to those consuming none. And how do you get more fruits and vegetables in school? You increase the fiber minimum from a cultural perspective, it would be great for our state laws to incorporate cultural considerations. I come from an Indian background where we eat many high fiber foods yet none of them showed up on school menus across the commonwealth. If this bill is passed, we would be incented to add black beans, lentils, chickpeas to salad bars. We would find ways to make vegetables taste better and more palatable to children instead of white pasta we would consider whole wheat pasta because we do not have the highest standards for school diets. We will always fall prey or kids will fall prey to the easy food.
The tater tots and the hot dogs. Kids learn from their peers and their teachers and schools across Massachusetts have this incredible ability to encourage good eating habits. Thank you for your time. I strongly support S363 and ask you to vote for this bill for the children to avoid long term health problems and to set a higher standard in our state. Remember it's not about how much food we provide, it's more about what foods we provide. School meals4570 need more fiber and kids will feel less hungry and happier. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
[SEN LEWIS:] Great. Thanks so4574 much. Miss Patel. Thanks for your advocacy and your and your testimony today. Um, Next we're gonna hear4580 from Katherine Downing. Catherine Downing. Are you with us?
[DOWNING:] Yes. Can you hear me?
[SEN LEWIS:] Yes, please go ahead.
[DOWNING:] Great. Thank you so much. Hello, thank you for having me. My name is Kate Downing and I'm a student from Tantasqua Regional4602 High School in Worcester County. I'm here today in support of an act relative to healthy school lunches. As others, as others have said, and will say this is an incredibly important bill for reasons that range from public health to cultural equity. All these reasons are important, but unless they personally affect you, they can seem abstract. For me, however, the reality of the menus is far from shocked I see firsthand every day how unhealthy the menus are. I see how terrible the foods can make my classmates feel and I know how difficult it is to build healthy habits. My options are limited to whatever makes the food companies the most money.
I'd like to share with you today a list of some nutritional information of food items being sold and served in schools in your districts today. A hot dog, which is a processed meat in group one carcinogen with 720 mg of sodium, which is the third of the recommendation amount of sodium per day. This does not include any other part of the meal. Just the hot dog. There's pizza sticks with 1020 mg of sodium chicken tenders with 60 mg of cholesterol, which is twice the amount of a four piece chicken Mcnugget meal Cheese Pizza with seven grams of saturated fat, which makes up 20% of the meals.4684 Total calories double the recommended limit4687 for kids. There's an American cheese sandwich with 1240 mg of sodium, 55 mg of cholesterol and 11 g of saturated fat making up 27% of the meals total calories.
There's also the previously mentioned beef nachos with cheese sauce from a can, which have 1000 mg of sodium or the equivalent of nearly two corndogs from Sonic. Bacon, egg and cheese on a biscuit has 1010 mg of sodium and 120 mg of cholesterol, More sodium and cholesterol than a Big Mac. And the list goes on. Even the healthier alternative menus are made up of things like branded sugar laden soaked yogurt, cold tortilla chips and goldfish crackers. None of these menu items have adequate fiber or nutrients most are actively harmful to our health and we are expected to eat them every day. We have students deserve better foods that foster our success, not hinder it. Please pass the healthy school lunch bill to ensure that me, my classmates and the future children of Massachusetts4756 have a strong healthy foundation to grow and learn from. Thank you.
[SEN LEWIS:] Thank you so much Miss Downing. That was terrific. Um and really appreciate your leadership on this. On this issue. Thank you. Um Nancy Solo is next. Nancy Solo. Miss Solo, are you with us? Alright, we're going to go to John Dalzell, John Dalzell.
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[DALZELL:] Yes, I'm here.
[SEN LEWIS:] Yes. Hi, please go ahead.
[DALZELL:] Good afternoon. Good afternoon Chair, Lewis, Chair Peisch and the members of the Joint Committee on Education. My name is John Dalzell and I am the general manager of Isaac's Moving in Storage. A 100 plus employee moving company based here in Stoughton Massachusetts as well as a father of three of three Children in Brookline Massachusetts. I'm here today in strong support of the Massachusetts healthy school lunch bill. Thank you for providing us this opportunity to share why this bill is so important to the families of the state of Massachusetts and to our local businesses. As4829 others have just stated across the state, Children are being served highly processed foods that contribute to chronic4837 disease and foster poor nutrition habits.
This chronic disease is a huge financial burden both on the state and on businesses that pay for employee health insurance. Here at Isaacs we've seen4849 health care costs skyrocket as rates of chronic and preventable preventable disease have increased, which is greatly strained businesses over the past 10 years here at Isaacs. I've seen our health insurance rates rises at a steady rate of 5% a year. Totalling over 50% increase over the past decade. Just this past year our health insurance rose 13% undoubtedly affected by COVID, but certainly not entirely due to the pandemic. At this rate, this will put small businesses out of business and mid-sized businesses and larger ones like Isaac's will struggle to pay the costs of this rising costs of health care.
Additionally, as manager of dozens of movers work physically every day, I see every day the effect of eating healthy healthy food and not eating healthy food on their bodies. I've seen that employees who consume a diet heavy on whole grain, unprocessed foods and fruits and vegetables perform at a much higher level are able to work with more energy longer days and show up for work much more frequently in a healthy lifestyle. I also had three children go through the Brookline public school system and I was very disappointed as well as my wife with the nutritional quality of the food they were served earlier in their academic careers in their lives. I was always really shocked at the food that was served and I was always confused by what they were serving. And I, you know, I think why we're here today is to to maybe clarify what exactly is happening in the school systems.
Why are we spending so much time making sure4942 that they get a good education and yet the nutrition doesn't nearly match that? Um I learned much later in life4949 as I heard Kelly Garriti testifying how much later in life as an athlete, how important nutrition is and I eat a much better and healthy lifestyle today and I feel the effects of it every day now. Now, food service companies will undoubtedly fight against this bill saying that it's too expensive to make the changes that we so desperately need. But the truth is the cost of doing nothing will be so much greater. I thank you very much for taking the time to hear my testimony today.
[SEN LEWIS:] Thank you very much Mr Dalzell, thanks for making the time to testify. Um, I think Nancy Solo, I just saw you, you are with us now. Nancy do you want to go ahead and testify Miss Solo? Nancy Solo. Okay. Um moving on to Jermoh Kamara.
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[KAMARA:] Yes, can you hear me?
[SEN LEWIS:] Yes,5004 hi. Please go on.
[KAMARA:] Thank you. So, um, my name is Chair Lewis, Chair if I mispronounce your name, I'm sorry, Peisch and members of the Joint Committee on Education. My name is Jermoh Kamara. By profession I work in public health as director of wellness and health equity at the YWC of, of central Massachusetts. I also taught at the undergraduate level at WPI at Clark University. As of yesterday, I was sworn in as a member of the Worcester school committee and I can proudly say that as a Worcester public school alum that5040 I get to serve a school district that once impacted me. Today I'm here in support of the Massachusetts healthy school lunch bill, H564 or S363. Thank you for the opportunity to share why this bill is so important to me.
One of my platforms that I ran on highlight, they highlighted the need to improve school health and social and emotional wellbeing and the Massachusetts school healthy school lunch builds strongly aims to resound that commitment firstly. Worcester being the5073 second largest city in New England is very diverse with with many families being first generation immigrants or immigrants with multi generations from America or other countries. Many are with English limited English proficiency, less than a high school or college education and living on minimum wage, these reasons exacerbates many issues including food insecurity, homelessness even among the young in Worcester which remains a challenge to fight food and security on all fronts. We should support and pass this bill.
For one at the school level we know that school age Children spend several more hours of their time in school and we should be doing everything possible to ensure that all Children are getting the right nutritions and quantity of meals when they are at school because for some, a meal at school may be the only meal that they will have for today. Our5135 Children's school lunches need to be nutrition dense, high quality, fresh grain and without alter processed ingredients. Our parents should be comfortable sending their children to school knowing that lunches are being served to support the children's cognitive, developmental5150 and psychosocial needs rather than preventing their children from consuming school lunches. During my campaign run from 2019 to 2021 depicts the story of many parents who were afraid to allow their Children to eat the current school lunch because consumption leads the sickness, change in behavior5169 or health issues gor many young ones.
The food we eat affects how we feel with the covid pandemic still intermingled in our daily lives with little hope of paying farewell to us completely. Providing nutritious food is like providing mental and5185 overall health care for our youngsters by investing in this bill we're investing in our child's mental or health, cognitive developmental and psychosocial. We are investing in the overall wellbeing. Thank you.
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[SEN LEWIS:] Great, thank you and congratulations on your election to the Worchester school committee and thank you for your public service.
[KAMARA:] Thank you.
[LEWIS:] Next up is Amy Proietti Amy Proietti.
[PROIETTI:] Hello.5216 Can you hear me?
[LEWIS:] Hi. Yes, please go ahead.
[PROIETTI:] [HB714] [SB314]Good5226 afternoon Senators Lewis and DiDomenico Representatives Peisch and Ultrino and all the members of the Joint Committee on Education. It's an honor to speak to you today. My name is Amy Proieti and I'm the chair of the school committee the Greenfield Public schools in Greenfield Massachusetts. I'm here to testify to House Bill 714 Senate Bill 314 an act relative to universal school meals. Greenfield is the city of 18,000 with the district of just over 1700 Pre K through 12 students In one preschool, 3 elementary schools, one middle school and one high school. We're city of mixed incomes, which translates to mixed enrollment in our schools. All of Greenfield schools except for one four corners Elementary are currently enrolled in the community eligibility provision and therefore able to serve universal meals school meals for all makes it possible to ensure all schools in Greenfield cancer free school meals to all students.
Our cafeteria workers in the Greenfield public schools are the true heroes of the pandemic. They spend hours in close quarters preparing meals and hours in distributing food to students and families even before we understood how covid-19 was spread. They never5309 stopped working to feed our kids. I've seen firsthand that when a school building is closed and all that's visible is meal prep and service. The stark need to end hunger is painfully apparent. This is all fixable. My Congressional Representative Jim5328 McGovern, a tireless advocate for ending hunger, says we have the means, the food and the programs to ensure that not one person goes without food in this country. What we lack is the political will to actually make it happen. Our educators know that filling bellies, feeds growing bodies and minds honestly what can be more important than that?
This bill ensures our district gets 100% reimbursement at the free level. Pre meals at school for all our students should be a no brainer it's food they are kids just give it to them. Thank you for your time and consideration of my testimony.
[SEN LEWIS:] Thank you so much and appreciate your public service on the Greenfield School committee and congratulations on having all your schools. I guess you5377 said about one of that are part of the CPP program. I hope you can get that final school also enrolled in the CEP program.
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[PROIETTI:] Me too. Thank you very much.
[SEN LEWIS:] Thank you. Um The last person signed up for the testifying on these two bills is Stacy Kennedy. Stacy Kennedy. Are you with us? Stacy Kennedy.
[REP PREISCH:] She just let me know she's driving um and is going to call in as soon as she can.
[SEN LEWIS:] Okay um We will okay we will try to accommodate her when she when she can when she can testify.
[REP PREISCH:] She said she just pulled over.
[LEWIS:] Okay. All right. Um in the meantime we're gonna move on to House Bill 686 which is an act establishing farm to school grants to promote healthy eating and strengthen the agricultural economy. And the the first person signed up for this bill is Lisa Damon. Lisa Damon are you with us?
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[DAMON:] I am thank you.
[SEN LEWIS:] Yes. Hi please go5456 ahead.
[DAMON:] [SB349] [HB686] Thank you. So, thank you for the opportunity to speak today in support of S3349 and H686 an act establishing farmer school grants to promote healthy eating and strengthen the local agricultural economy, thank you to the co sponsor, Senator Lesser and Representative Pignatelli for introducing and supporting this important legislation. My name is Lisa Damon and I am the decoder actor of Massachusetts farm to school. We are a statewide organization with a mission to strengthen local farms and fisheries and promote healthy communities by increasing local food purchasing and education at schools. I'm also testifying on behalf of Massachusetts Food for Massachusetts Kid Coalition, a statewide effort of over 25 organizations who believe all students deserve healthy high quality meals and engaging food education at school.
For the past 17 years Massachusetts farm to school has provided direct technical assistance to schools looking to start up or expand pharmaceutical activity. I have witnessed students eagerly eating salad greens, their classrooms had teachers tell me their students for sneaking kale from the garden for snacking and farmers tell me they feel like superheroes when visiting a school cafeteria. But unfortunately we have seen time and again, funding can be a barrier to implementation of pharmaceutical activities. A school may be highly motivated to provide students with scratch quick meals featuring local products, but without proper kitchen equipment, they struggle to do so. Similarly, teachers eager to do garden based learning with their students routinely struggle to build and then maintain outdoor learning spaces.
This grant program would help schools and early care5545 settings overcome these common barriers as well as provide funds for critical professional development needs. Once these relatively small upfront investments are made, the payoff continues for years to come across the commonwealth. More than 15 states across the country, including Connecticut, Vermont and New York have established farm to school grant programs. We can do the same here in Massachusetts today supporting both the farmer school grant bill and the legislation to establish universal school meals H714 and S314 would mean more kids eating healthier meals here in Massachusetts.
We believe these bills go hand in hand and urge the committee to support both pieces of legislation. We'd like to thank the committee and the entire legislature for supporting farmer school grant programming in the recent covid recovery appropriations bill, which included $1 million to fund the first year of this grant program. We ask you today5592 to leverage that federal funding and establish a permanent farmer school grant program here in Massachusetts so that more students can grow and thrive in school. Thank you.
[SEN LEWIS:] Thank you so much for your testimony. Um and your good, good work on this issue. Um, Rebecca Kelly is next Rebecca Kelly.
[KELLY:] [HB686] [SB349] Hello, thank you for your time. Um My name is Rebecca Kelly um and I'm providing testimony as the program manager for food court Massachusetts and as a representative of the Massachusetts Food for Massachusetts Kids Coalition. I'm here today in support of H686 and S349, an act establishing Farm to school grants to promote healthy eating and strengthen the agricultural economy. The establishment of this grant program would ensure students can thrive by providing eligible schools and programs critical funds to start and expand farm to school activities such as purchasing local foods, educating students about gardening and nutrition and preparing scratch cooked and culturally relevant meals.
Food course research has found that students who receive hands on learning activities consume up to three times the amount of fruits and vegetables as their peers. Food court has witnessed the layered impact farm to school programming can have on communities. At one of our partner's schools in New Bedford parents work together with the school food service staff to add caldo de apoyo a chicken and vegetable soup commonly made by Hispanic families to the lunch menu. For the 40% of the students who identified as Hispanic, it was an opportunity to share the5696 foods they eat at home with the rest of the school community. This moment of local families making nutritious and culturally relevant recipes a regular part of school meals was made possible by the fresh produce, updated kitchen5712 equipment, food service training and food education that farm to school efforts provided.
A well-funded Farm to school grants program is an accessible and equitable way to fund efforts in communities who have bold and achievable visions for students to not only have access to regular fresh meals but also empower them to choose an advocate for healthy options in their futures. In Massachusetts, black and Latinx students disproportionately residing under resourced school districts. This program can help to address inequities in our food and education systems by empowering schools and programs to monetize their kitchens, train their staff and buy local produce. I would like to use this time to also voice support for Bill H714 an act relative to universal school meals. This bill, in conjunction with the Farm to School grant bill, will ensure that every child in Massachusetts isn't just fed but well-fed with nutritious, culturally affirming meals made with local ingredients.
I'd like to also thank you for supporting Senator Lesa's amendment to fund the start of the Farm to School grant program at $1 million in the recent covid recovery funds appropriations bill. With the impacts of covid seen vividly in our school communities now is the time to prioritize the health of Massachusetts students through the establishment of a permanent Farm to school grants program. Thank you for your time.
[SEN LEWIS:] Thank you very much. Miss Kelly. Robert Shaheen is next .
[SHAHEEN:] [HB686] [SB349] Good afternoon. Hi, thanks. So5811 I'm actually here supporting one bill and not supporting another. So I'll do the one I'm supporting first and try to fit it in all the time, if that makes sense, but thank you for having me here this afternoon. My name is Robert Shaheen, I'm the food service director for5824 New Bedford Public Schools. I've been in food service for more than 25 years, so I have a little experience in that. Um So I'm here to support S686 the Senate Bill and 349, I'm sorry, the House and then the Senate Bill 349 an act establishing from the school grants to promote healthy eating and strengthen the agricultural5843 economy.
So, as a food service director in New Bedford since 2018 I had the privilege to provide more healthy choices to more than 14,000 students in our district, providing healthy choices that include fresh fruits and vegetables has a lasting impact on students during their learning journey in school. They need the necessary fuel to help them grow, learn and pay attention to the daily lesson plans at school. Without food, their bodies wouldn't function and without healthy food they wouldn't grow into healthy adults. So, New Bedford unfortunately has a high free and reduced and high poverty rate. With that said, we have an advantage over other districts to apply for grants through the USDA that will help us provide more healthy choices and procure those products from local farmers5891 and vendors in the state.
Those funds are limited. With this proposal, we can provide an opportunity for other districts to take advantage of what is available and provide more healthy fresh choices for their menus and students.5904 The funding will also help support the local farms and companies that, that provide fresh items. Continued support for our local farms, um, is great for the economy and for the community and agriculture community creating jobs and keeping it local. In conclusion, I would also like to say that students can identify with where the fresh items come from and to translate over to their parents when they go shopping, making5930 decisions about what to prepare and eat at home.
Again as a school food operator our goal is to create behaviors and healthy choices for our students. The bill support those efforts and I just want to, you know, just go over the other bill that I'm not supporting. So I'm not supporting, um, Bill H564 and 363 an act relative to healthy school lunches. Um, I just got to say that I'm writing because it's going to be strongly rebuffed by the school nutrition association Massachusetts as a member and the former chair for nutrition legislation. Um, I'm a committee member now. Um, I don't believe you have all the necessary information about how school meal programmes operate in Massachusetts. I'm troubled why no one from the petitioner bother to consult with the school nutritionist Massachusetts or even asked to visit the school. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
A reimbursable meal served at all schools under the national lunch program consists of milk, fruit, vegetable grain and protein in case you didn't know. On average costs ouraverage cost to a lunch meal with all the components is about $2.75-$3 per meal. Um, it's much higher due to the national food shortages over6005 our school districts have endured over the past four months with kind of no one in sight as I can see. So our school just haven't, you know, our minimum cost to the student for lunch is somewhere between 3.25 and 4.25 barely enough to cover labor, plating, nonfood supplies and equipment. Our competition, the national fast food chains charged double and don't come nearly as close to the healthy nutritious items we serve on a daily basis.
Please correct me if I'm wrong. As a director of food nutrition services like I said, we have 14,000 students, we6038 serve over three million meals a year breakfast and lunch. Um, and you know,6041 we take a lot of pride in doing that trying to meet the regulations based on what the USDA compliance regulations that are healthy and nutritious6048 foods offered to students all across the state. You6052 know, the food items offered are costly to produce, regulations, manufacturers have an outstanding job to try to meet those standards.
[SEN LEWIS:] We're going to have to ask you to, to start to wrap up please.
[SHAHEEN:] So yeah, I'm just gonna say the bill is not reasonable or realistic and I have emphatically do not support those bills.
[LEWIS:] Okay. Thank you very much for your, your testimony today. Um next we're gonna hear from Grace Sliwoski .Grace Sliwoski.
[SLIWOSKI:] [HB686] [SB349] Hi, thank you all. Yeah, thanks for the ability to testify and support. Thanks to chairs Lewis and Peisch. I'm here to support H686 and S349 an act establishing farmers school grants to promote healthy eating and strengthen agricultural economy. Um, I'm6095 here representing an organization called the Regional Environmental Council, our6099 REX out of Western Mass, but I'm also on the board of directors for Central Mascarpone, which is our by local organization for the region and a member of the Worcester Food Policy Council. And our organization operates a school gardens program here in Worcester. We support6115 25 school gardens, the majority of which are in Worcester public schools, some of which are in early childhood centers.
Um, and we really see the transformative impact that school gardens and gardening programming can have on the culture of aschool. And I want to just share a short story about one school in particular where we saw a really6134 dramatic transformation over the past year um that helps speak to that impact. We received a USDA farmers school grants um in the summer of 2020 which allowed us to support three Worcester public schools including North High School um, with expanding a very small and neglected school garden um, and implementing school garden programming. And we really struggled initially when the grant was awarded because school was not in session due6160 to COVID-196161 and so we were engaging with the students only through virtual platforms, through Google surveys and6166 power points and we were just shocked by how much buy in we got from the get go on this project from the student body.
Um, we had students talking about their own experience gardening with family members or from the countries they were originally from, we had students who were very eager to participate and last summer we watched an employment program for students at the school in partnership with the adjacent science museum. So we had seven students were employed to care for the garden while completing STEM curriculum. We added an orchard component. Um, we saw incredible buy-in from the school community from teachers. We had a retiring teacher build a beautiful arbor and archway for the garden and we were able to continue programming through6207 the fall just because there was so much enthusiasm um, and support from all members of the school.
Um, it was especially meaningful this fall the students elected to dedicate the new garden space to a custodian from the school who had passed away due to Covid 19 and so we were able to have a ceremony to honor him and6225 to have that dedication. We were also able to host Representative Jim McGovern who really lauded the students for the work they had done and just seeing how the project was able to be integrated into the school across many different academic components. All this being said, this is only one school, we work with6243 25 partners but there are 45 public schools in the city of Worcester and we'd like to be able to offer this kind of support to all of them. We know the impact and the demand for these types of programs and having a state funding source that we can reach out to with our partners from farm to school would be incredibly beneficial in making those small initial investments that can really yield so much.
Um so we'd ask6264 that you support this piece of legislation. I want to thank uh you all for the existing support and appropriations um and we have submitted written testimony in support of this as well.
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[SEN LEWIS:] Very good. Thank6278 you so much. Next up is Chetna Nemi.
[CHETNA:] Hi, can you hear me?
[SEN LEWIS:] Yes, please go ahead.
[CHETNA:] [HB686] [SB349] Um so thank you chairs for this opportunity. My name is Chetna Nemi. I'm the Farm to School Program coordinator at Codman Academy Charter Public School in Dorchester. I'm also the Community Partnership Director for Codman Square Health Center, a health centre that shares the geographical space and many of its resources. I'm here today to ask your support for H686 and S3496314 an act establishing Farm to school grants6316 to promote healthy eating and strengthening the agriculture economy filed by Representative Pignatelli and Senator Lesser. So I'm going to tell you a personal story which has become a labor of love for not just for myself but for the whole school.
Um I have a background in public health. I worked at CDC, I've worked at division of nutrition and physical activity but this is6339 where the rubber meets the road. I sincerely believe that getting our children um an opportunity regardless of where they are to get their hands dirty to be able to grow food, to understand how food grows and have them taste it is that one of the best ways to empower them for lifelong healthy skills And at Codman because of our farm to school program that started in 2018 and it's still going on because of our implementation grant, we can vouch for that we have a road map for how to successfully transform an inner city urban school um to embrace outdoor learning, understanding how food grows, the science and economics behind it and all at the same time improving their mental and behavioral health and wellbeing, we know that being outdoors can do magic to almost everyone's mental health, and especially in these times.
So um because of the USDA Farm to school program, we have now a very deep longstanding partnership with local farms and community and6406 urban farms from Holly Hill Farm in Cohasset to urban farming institute right in Dorchester where um we bring hands on learning experience right inside the classroom as well as in our garden. Um, we have farmers literally walking the hallways of our school where a6423 second grader will say hi farmer Johnny, what do you have today? And he will open his hand and he has composting worms and everybody would embrace that. We have second graders growing and planting Garlick in fall and fourth-graders harvesting them in in spring and summer because of meaningful classroom interaction.
We have our students really growing um, lots of indoor growing racks and hydroponic system as well as um, the whole idea is that they are learning to sew seeds for in the garden, in the classroom. Our teachers are able to actually align the curriculum for farm to school activities with their math science humanities. We have a robust program which is called farm food ambassadors. In fact one of our students will be testifying and um, I have to say that one of the best, most gratifying example of our power of our farm to6481 school program has been that when pandemic started are a group of our high school students since everyone was stuck at home, they started to work in our beautiful school garden that, which was built by high school students in 2018 and6497 2019 from scratch in a small 350 square foot space.
Um, these high school students worked every single week in 2020 to grow vegetables, they delivered6509 over 300 lb of fresh produce to the health center. Frontline workers at the same time, they found respect in putting the mask on maintaining their distance and working and all that while discussing food justice and its connection to racial justice and sharing their videos with younger students. All of this culminated into our program winning the um, the presidential EPA. Presidential youth environmental6535 award for these students, which um, we are so proud of. And but inside of all these lies also the gratifying part of seeing a food service
[SEN LEWIS:] I am sorry Miss Nemi I'm going to have to ask you to wrap up.
[CHETNA:] [HB686] [SB349] Sorry, I'm too excited about it. So I'm thank you so much for this opportunity. We hope that by voting favorably on H686 and 349 you will let Massachusetts farmer feed Massachusetts Children while providing6566 holistic growth and connection opportunities.6568 Thank you.
[SEN LEWIS:] Thank you. And I do appreciate your enthusiasm and it's very impressive what you're doing at Codman Academy. So keep up the good work. Thank you. Next up is Haley small, Haley6576 Small. Emily Armstrong!
[ARMSTRONG:] [HB686] [SB349] Hello. Good afternoon. My name is Emily Armstrong and I live in Tisbury on Martha's Vineyard. I work for a nonprofit called island grown initiative and our mission is to support regenerative and equitable food system here in Martha's Vineyard. For the past 15 years, we've partnered with the public schools. Each of the towns on our island to offer farm to school programming. Thank you for listening to my testimony today. I'm here to support H686 and S349 an act establishing farm to school grants to promote healthy eating6623 and strengthen the agricultural economy. Here in Martha's Cineyard, we engage students from two through 18 in the garden, classroom and cafeteria. I have worked with island grown initiative for 10 years now and it has been an inspiration to watch students engage with our program in that time. Students that I garden within preschool are now in high school.
Many of these students are engaging with their local food system in a way I never would have imagined when I first met them. They're working on farms, advocating for composting systems and their school cafeteria and taking leadership roles in their school gardens. The most meaningful part farm to School for me is the curriculum, connections with teachers and our partners schools. We incorporate relevant state teaching frameworks into everything we do and teach core subjects through the lens of food, a hands on lesson in the garden with sunflowers, help students master math and science concepts. A cooking unit with corn brings their history standards to life. These hands on experiences sets students up for academic success and we are so grateful to be doing this work.
6684 Thank you for supporting Senator Lesa's amendment to fund the start of the farm to school grant program with a million dollars in the recent covid recovery funds appropriations bill. Please establish a permanent farm toschool grant program by supporting H686 and S349 an act establishing farmer school grants to promote healthy eating and strengthen the agricultural economy. I'm so proud that our state is also considering a universal school meals bill today which I also support. Together these bills will increase access to healthy6712 local school meals and local food education. Thank you for listening to my testimony.
[SEN LEWIS:] Thank you very much. Next we're gonna hear from Arvelt Paren. Arvelt Paren from theSalem public schools, are you with us? Okay. Margaret Nowak. Margaret Nowak. Yes, please go ahead.
[NOWAK:] [HB686] [SB349] Thank you, greetings committee on education, thank you for your time today. My name is Maggie Nowak and I am a farmer school manager for both public schools as well as a member of the little public schools for the nutrition too. First thank you for supporting farm to school programming by including $1 million in the recent covid6767 recovery funds appropriation bill to fund the first year of this program. Today I would like to urge you to take this action one step further by supporting H686 and S349 an act establishing farm to school grant to promote healthy eating and strengthen the agricultural economy initiatives that have significant impacts like in districts like mine um that are incredible income schools, where the needs are greatest.
Today I'd like to briefly share one of numerous examples that6797 demonstrate the ways farm toschool initiatives, improve student academic achievement and support Massachusetts economy. In January 2020 right before the pandemic started local farmers school program was supported, the school committee shifted all leafy green Fallon and lettuce procurement from traditional producers all the way in California to a local producer literally farms hydroponic greenhouse producer located just 15 minutes, just 25 minutes outside of in Devens Massachusetts. Not only has the shift resulted in high quality products, it's more nutritious and safer for our students.
It's also been resilient during COVID-19 as a procurement relationship and this lettuce has been a mainstay in our lunch program. It's now featured every day in our salads and sandwiches to students from staff at all levels K through 12 who expect excitement, a visual excitement and I'm eating a leafy green. Moreover by procuring local lettuce we have a personal relationship6860 with literally farms for crises like COVID-19 procurement and they are an active partner, in not only nutritional, the nutritional help of our students, but in the academic health as well. In spring 2021 literally funds developed a science and sustainability hydroponic blossom for our students and completed it with animated lettuce characters for our young eaters that could color them.
This relationship is also a two way street in securing this product for our district, we negotiated a partnership between little leaf lettuce and our regional distributor said Wagner not only enabling will public schools to procure literally literally lettuce but all of submariners regional customers. While our districts relationship and investment in middle Lee farms will remain a mainstay in our future risk program for years to come. It would not have been possible without farm to school funding the cost help us support onboarding cost of adding a new products to our menu from training staff to new packaging, adopting their school lunch menu and funding nutrition education positions like mine.
Please establish a permanent farm to school grants program here in Massachusetts by supporting6935 H686 and S349. Farm to school just isn't just for the benefit of our schools or students or even just our bonds. Farm to school is good for our region. It's good for employees of so many trades and disciplines, just technicians, engineers and truck drivers who work with local producers like literally farms and it's also good for local eaters committed6957 to consuming leafy green as part of their healthy diet and to rely on a resilient local Massachusetts in these unprecedented times. Thank you.
[SEN LEWIS:] Great, thank you very much Miss Nowak. Um next up is Sarah Cochran. Sarah Coughling.
[COUGHLIN:] [HB714] [SB314} [HB686] [SB349] Hi, um, I want to start by saying thank you for having having me today and allowing me to speak to the committee. My name is Sarah Coughlin. I'm a registered dietitian and I work as the director of school nutrition for Braintree public schools. Today, I'm here to represent the school nutrition association of Massachusetts and our support for H714, S314 and act relative to universal school meals in H686, S349, the Massachusetts pharmacy school bill. The school nutrition association of Massachusetts is made up of7008 school nutrition directors, employees and other industry members who provide healthy well-balanced meals rich in whole grains and fresh fruits and vegetables to the students of Massachusetts every day of the school year.
I want to start by saying that we hope you will consider supporting H86, S349 to establish a permanent farm to school grant program in Massachusetts so that even more school districts can benefit from the critial funds for updated equipment, locally grown foods, training for school nutrition staff and agricultural education. Over the past two years, we have witnessed firsthand the positive impact that universal school meals have had on our students. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic school meals have been the one constant for many children, all because we were able to provide meals free to all students. In a typical school year, we rely on income-based applications and participation in other state assistance programs to determine whether or not a student can qualify for free or reduced-price meals.
Unfortunately, the income eligibility guidelines are extremely low and there are many students whose families just missed the cut off to qualify. These students then quickly accumulate meal debt, which must either be paid off by their families or paid off by the school district general funds. Many districts in Massachusetts still have student meal that occurred before the pandemic by eliminating the paid and reduced categories altogether. We will increase equity for all of the students in Massachusetts. We firmly believe that7090 food is a basic7092 necessity, especially when it comes to successful students. Schools already provide books, tablets, laptops and other devices, so it only makes sense that we provide healthy foods as well.
One of the most beneficial changes brought about by the Universal School meals during the COVID-19 pandemic was the removal of the stigma associated with those who qualify for free or reduced price meals in past years, many students did not participate in school lunch and breakfast programs because they were embarrassed that others would know their eligibility. As a result, they missed out on what could have very likely been their only source of nutrition for the day. Now that meals are free to all7128 students the playing field is leveled, participation has increased significantly across many districts and there is no way to distinguish one student's eligibility from another. In my own district participation has increased at least 15% at all grade levels.
We, as a school nutrition association of Massachusetts fear that many children in need will suffer if we are no longer no longer able to provide universal school meals next year. That is why we are here today to encourage you7155 to support the passing of H714, S314 an act relative to universal school meals and H686, S349 to establish a permanent Farm to School grant program in Massachusetts. Thank you again for your time.
[SEN LEWIS:] Thank you very much Miss Coughlin for testifying and thank you for your leadership of the Massachusetts School nutrition association and the good work you do. Next we're gonna hear from Ellen Niland. Ellen7206 Niland. Are you with us, Ellen Niland? Alright. We're going to move then to Jen Lemmerman. Good to see you.
[LEMMERMAN:] You as well. Chair Peisch, Chair Lewis, members of the committee, thank you so much for the opportunity to testify in support of an act establishing Farm to school grants to promote healthy eating and strengthen the agricultural community. My name is Jen Lemmerman, and I'm the vice president of public policy at project bread. I'll keep my remarks brief7230 and I will support written testimony as backup. Um but just to say, uh you know, we know that Children when they have access to proper nutrition, they are better able to learn and live healthier lives and we also know that undernourished Children have poorer cognitive performance. Um and beyond the academic success children who experience hunger are more likely to have behavioral and attention problems as compared to other students.
The legislature can help these kids get the food they need by improving access to healthy locally grown school meals through this bill. Project Bread is more than 20 years of experience, working to boost participation quality and health of school meals as a strategy towards ending childhood hunger and we believe farm to school is an important step on that path. Works to provide Children and their families with the resources and the knowledge to make their own food choices, aiding students' health and academic outcomes. And the programs also can improve student consumption of fruits and vegetables, participation in school nutrition programs and their knowledge and attitudes towards agriculture, food, nutrition and environmental issues.
These programs can provide education and experiential learning opportunities to students of all ages through edible gardens, cooking demonstrations, field trips to farms and more this could serve to address childhood obesity and diet related diseases in Massachusetts, along with advancing the general health benefits that come with eating healthy healthy foods um and with nutrition education. So we're proud of the work that has been done with our partners to increase the availability of and participation in school meals for kids around the state. Um and this legislation really would further those results while strengthening the agricultural economy in Massachusetts. So, thank you for your consideration of this legislation.
[SEN LEWIS:] Thank you very much Miss Lemmerman and we're7346 so7346 appreciative7347 of everything Project Bread has been doing to advance food security in the commonwealth, particularly during the pandemic. So thank you. Um Next up7358 is Miriam Braxter. Miriam Braxter. Okay. Um and the last person signed up for this, these two bills is Oh good, good. Okay please go ahead. Hi Miriam.
[MIRIAM:] [SB349] HB686] Hi um, greetings, thank you for having me. My name is Miriam Baxter and I'm in the 11th grade at Codman Academy Public Charter School in Dorchester. I am a used farm food ambassador and I'm here today to share my support for the farm to school Grant Bill S349 and H686. Okay. Our school has a well organized farm toschool program. I am part of this program as a youth farmambassador. I had previously worked for a program called the T7396 urban the team, the teenurban tree corpse that plan streets of the city of Boston. I saw being a farm food ambassador as another opportunity to develop green spaces in urban environments, especially in schools like ours where there are always tight spaces.
Our food ambassador program is about growing a sustainable garden in the back space of7416 Codman that would take care of on a weekly basis. Our goal is survive fresh food for the local community students,7423 school staff and well employees of the commonwealth center who shared building cafeteria and the garden based with our school. One of the main projects has been a weekly farmer's market which is the first of its kind at Codman academy. Many staff from Codman Square Health Center also buy our fresh vegetables. The farmers market was my first time being able to grow up and plant things in the garden and watch these the process of things grow is overall a great, great feeling because we are able to see the process throughout the end to start finish and the fact that we eat all these vegetables that come from a garden is also very violent towards our health.
Each week we would harvest from the garden vegetables such as eggplants, the tourism, edible flower, beans, kale, herbs, tomatoes and even okra. They raised over $75 over the course of five weeks that we donated to this year's prom festivals. My favorite plant to see it in garden grow was okra because of the way it was shaped and like I've never seen the okra up close like fresh from the ground. I usually see like bags from the store and also uh there was also Mark she worked with the workers as well. She worked at Green city growers and partners with Codman to help us take care of the garden. Actually eat the plants in our pest. So we use some organic pest mechanisms to spray and control of their population.
There are lots of snails. I mean they're kind of cute but also they are damaging the garden as well and I really enjoyed seeing the animals in the garden even though they're like harmful if . Iis bill was passed more schools like ours could have a beautiful garden, and many students from all different gardens will get to get a chance to learn how to grow vegetables in the school and understand how eating fresh vegetables in the first step towards a healthy7536 life will benefit them and their families as well. Thank you again for giving me this chance to share my experiences7543 for the farm bill.
[SEN LEWIS:] Thank you so much Miss Braxter it is great to have a student perspective as we consider this, this important legislation,7557 and it sounds like you're doing wonderful things that at your school at Codman. So thank you.
SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
[MIRIAM:] You're welcome.
[SEN LEWIS:] Next up is Hope Garden.
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