laws & regulations

The following are state and federal laws and regulations that govern school wellness policies and provide standards for nutrition and physical education in Rhode Island schools.  ​

​Scroll down if you're interested in seeing a timeline for the passage of these laws and regulations.

State Laws & Regulations

These laws/regulations apply to ALL RI public/charter and schools under the under the control or management of the State of RI.

School Wellness Subcommittee Law
​Law passed by the RI General Assembly in 2005 requiring all RI districts to establish a wellness committee as a sub-committee of the full school committee.  

Competitive Foods and Beverages Law 
Law passed by the RI General Assembly in 2007/08 requiring all RI schools to sell ONLY healthier snacks and beverages outside of the federal reimbursable meals program (including vending, fundraising, school stores and other sales before, during and one hour after the school day).  Update to law in 2016 to align RI nutrition standards with new federal nutrition standards while retaining select stronger state provisions. 

Rhode Island Nutrition Requirements for School Meals and Competitive Foods 
Criteria developed by the RI Board of Education in 2009 to provide additional nutrition standards for school meals and competitive foods.  

Recess Law
Law passed by the RI General Assembly in 2016 requiring any RI public school that has elementary grades K – 6 to offer students daily supervised, safe and unstructured free play recess for 20 consecutive minutes each day.  

Physical Education Law
Law passed by the RI General Assembly in 2012 that requires
all school PE program curriculum be based on the standards of the RI Physical Education Framework (in addition to average
20 minutes/day instruction in PE/Health for students in grades 1 – 12). 

​Healthy School Foods/Beverage Marketing Law 
Law passed by the RI General Assembly in 2018 that prohibits the advertising and marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages in schools that do not meet minimum federal/state nutrition standards. 

Federal Laws & Regulations 

These laws/regulations apply to ALL RI schools (public/charter/independent/parochial) that participate in the USDA reimbursable school meals program.

Local School Wellness Policy Regulation

USDA Competitive Foods/Beverages Nutrition Standards
​("Smart Snacks in Schools")
Federal regulation updating nutrition standards for all foods/beverages sold outside of the federal meals program starting in school year 2014/15.

USDA School Meals Nutrition Standards
Federal regulation addressing nutrition standards for the reimbursable federal meals program. 

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timeline

2004: Federal Child Nutrition & WIC Reauthorization - requires schools with federally funded meal programs to establish local wellness policies by 2006 school year.
 
2005: RI General Assembly passes new law in accordance with the federal law of 2004 requiring the establishment of district wellness committees, as subcommittees of the full school committee/board.
 
2006: RI Healthy Schools Coalition develops "Model Policy Language" for use as a template for district policy writers. RI Healthy Schools Coalition develops "RI Nutrition Guidelines for School Vending & A La Carte Foods". Both receive endorsement by the RI Board of Regents and the RI Department of Health.
 
2006/2007: RI General Assembly passes "Healthier Beverage & Snack Law" specifying nutrition criteria for items sold as competitive foods in the cafeterias, vending machines and school stores.
 
2008: RI General Assembly passes "PE Law", effective September 2012, requiring standards-based school physical education curriculum.
 
2009:  RI Board of Regents establishes nutrition criteria for reimbursable school meals and a la carte snacks (RINR).
 
2010: Federal Child Nutrition Reauthorization (Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act) establishes further requirements for local wellness policies in addition to new nutrition standards for school meals.

2016: RI General Assembly passes “Recess Law” requiring 20 consecutive minutes of free-play recess each school day in elementary school. 

2016:  RI General Assembly updates “Healthier Beverage & Snack” Competitive Foods/Beverage Law to align with federal USDA “Smart Snacks in Schools” nutrition standards.

2018:  RI General Assembly passes “Healthy School Foods/Beverage Marketing Law” prohibiting junk food and sugary drink advertising at schools, effective September 1, 2018.