Published: September 12, 2008 11:46 pm      

Healthier vending options mean less cash to schools

EDMOND — Vending machines were once a cash cow for school districts, providing much needed revenue for their schools’ general funds, but today that breed of cow is dying out.

In 2004-05 Edmond Board of Education members voted to start providing healthier snacks and drinks in addition to the regular vending machine choices.

“It is hard to argue that providing junk food and sugary soft drinks in our schools is healthy or in the students’ best interest,” said board member Kathleen Duncan.

In 1999, Edmond schools signed a 10-year exclusive vending contract with Electronic Merchandising Incorporated, operated by Paul Blair.

“At that time the superintendent, Dr. Carr, was interested in the latest thing sweeping through Texas — ‘exclusivity’,” Blair said. “Dr. Carr wanted to enter into an exclusive agreement to maximize revenue.”

The school board at that time voted to give Pepsi exclusive rights. The contract promised a $200,000 exclusivity option for the 1999-2000 school year and $80,000 for each of the next nine years in addition to the commissions earned from the sale of products in the vending machines.

Commissions from vending machine sales in Edmond have fallen each year since 2000-01, according to figures provided by the Edmond Public School District.

In 2007-08 Pepsi lowered the exclusivity check, and they have lowered it again for the 2008-09 school year because beverage sales have gone down after the district started requesting healthier items.

The original contract between EMI and Edmond schools guaranteed $211,950 each year in commissions for sales in vending machines. District commissions from product sales never reached this amount, and EMI paid the difference in monies earned until 2004-2005 when the school district requested changes to the original contract.

“Pepsi agreed to allow the No. 1 carbonated beverage in Oklahoma — Dr. Pepper, a Coke product — to be sold in their machines,” Blair said.

Although vending machine purchases had fallen off during the first five years of the contract, since 2004-05 when healthier items were added to the vending machine choices, purchases have dropped more drastically.

From an overall commission check written in 2000-01 of $209,020.31 to a low last year of $110,858.84, yearly vending commissions are not what they once were.

“In 2004-05 when we requested Paul to make changes, he didn’t have to, but he did it because he wanted to be able to work with us,” board member Jamie Underwood said. “At that time by contract he didn’t have to do that.”

In 2007-08 this commission was reduced to $68,825, and then it was reduced again for the 2008-09 school year to $52,650. The district’s assistant treasurer Lori Smith said the district expects an additional 15 percent drop in the vending commission.

“We are projecting the commission check to be in the amount of $94,231, in addition to the exclusivity check of $52,650,” Smith said.

it’s about choices

At the high schools, 50 percent of the vending machine items fall in the healthy column for both snacks and beverages while in middle schools 100 percent of the vending machine items must fall in the healthy range now, according to a law passed in 2005.

“In the law it says you can put in those machines what you want to,” said board member Charles Woodham at a recent school board meeting. “You would be surprised what those principals use that money for … I think high school kids ought to be able to drink what they want to.”

The yearly commissions are given to the schools to be used to help supplement the student activity funds. Those funds in turn are used to buy items for the teachers to use in their classrooms as instructional materials.

Jason Brown, principal at Santa Fe High School, said much of the monies from his vending machine commissions are used to buy all types of instructional materials from toner for computer printers to paper.

“We bought books for our new Teen Leadership Forum class with the money, as well as reading incentives,” Brown said. “We have to be pretty frugal.”

At Memorial High School, Principal Kyle Heath said he thinks offering 50 percent healthy snacks and drinks in the vending machines is all right, although he agrees that 100 percent healthy items in the middle school machines is good.

Of the 50 percent of carbonated drinks offered in the vending machines, half of those are diet carbonated drinks.

“I think it is really important to give students some positive choices — choices to transition them into adults,” Heath said. “I also think it was a positive move to give healthy snack options.”

“The choices have changed,” Heath said. “Students come into the building with drinks we don’t offer including Starbucks cappuccinos and energy drinks.”

Central Middle School now has four vending machines compared to 10 that it had at one time.

“Our commissions have fallen from $1,600 to $2,000 per week before we started adding healthier items to now between $200 and $400 (per week),” said Central Principal Tara Fair.

Fair said one reason for the low commissions could be that the cafeteria is selling some of the same items that are found in the vending machines, and the students would rather let their parents pay for the items when the students buy their lunches.

Vending machines at the middle schools are only available to the students before and after school hours, according to district policy.

The vending machines at the high schools are available to the students throughout the day. Jan Keirns, principal at North High School, said the vending machines close to the cafeteria are not available to the students during lunch.

“I’d like to take the restrictions off the high school,” Woodham said. “I think we are getting so healthy we are going broke.”