SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Trustees Consider Candy Sale Plan

The Capistrano Unified School District Board of Trustees is considering a policy that would allow schools in the district to hold candy sales as fund-raisers for extracurricular activities.

Trustees were presented last week with a draft of a policy that would lift a longstanding candy ban. The school district is the only one in the county that forbids candy sales.

Although a majority of the board appears ready to approve a candy-selling policy when it is formally presented to them later this month, there was some resistance when the topic was discussed last week.

“I was a candy nut as a kid,” said Trustee E.G. (Ted) Kopp. “I can’t imagine one parent who would want their kids to be eating candy they have no control over.”

Trustee A. Edward Westberg expressed concern that the candy sales might have a negative effect on school lunch programs.

Last month, Westberg cast the only vote against a proposal that allowed Dana Hills High School to become the first high school in the district to have Pepsi-Cola vending machines on campus. He said the vending machines promote bad eating habits.

Board President Crystal Kochendorfer defended the concept of candy sales.

“I don’t think we’re headed for destruction with this,” Kochendorfer said. “I don’t envision our elementary school students running rampant with candy bars in their hands.”

The board asked district staff to research issues such as the duration of each candy sale and how many sales schools or clubs would be allowed to hold each year. The staff will present trustees with their findings at the next board meeting.