School locks up vending machines

| Wednesday, March 17, 2004

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SIOUX FALLS (AP) — When Sioux Falls Roosevelt High School students walk up to vending machines during school hours, they see signs telling them the machines are locked.

The school has decided that snack and soda vending machines are off limits between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.

"Our biggest concern is our health," principal Jim Denevan said. "We've not had any concerns with spilling or kids being out of control because they're drinking pop or anything else. It is a health concern, though."

Other Sioux Falls schools already have shut down their vending machines during the day. Roosevelt joined the list after a survey revealed 30 percent of its students either are overweight or likely would become overweight by adulthood.

Some students are irritated by the move. To others, it's no big deal.

"It doesn't really affect me that much because I maybe drink half of a 20-ounce and that's during lunch. I drink most of my pop after school. It doesn't really bother me all that much," said Amy Kraayenhof, a senior.

"I'm kind of angry because I'm one of those kids that rely on pop to get you through the day. It's just kind of irritating when I go to get a pop and all of sudden I can't do that," said Ashton Moss, a junior.

The school will lose about $7,000 a year by locking up the machines during class hours. Roosevelt students still can buy soda and snacks before and after class and at the school store during their lunch period.

"Overall, I think it's better that they are not pumping three or four 20-ounce bottles of pop into themselves than the little bit of money that we got for it," Denevan said. "To be honest, I don't know that they are not going to get that three and four someplace else. It's still the right thing to do in school."