A Look At Waterford’s “Cupcake” Ban

In 2007, then-Southwest Elementary School Principcal Pat Fedor spearheaded a movement to stop students from bringing in food for other students, something they would often do for their birthdays.

The Board of Education adopted the policy that year, but the public met it with scrutiny. The Day newspaper published several letters to the editor against the ban, and an article by The Day produced many comments critical of the policy.

But five years later, after the initial rocky period, the ban has produced little controversy, said Fedor, who is now the principal of . And while the ban was initially done to keep students safe, there have been several other benefits as well, she said.

“I think it has helped students start to learn birthdays don’t always have to be about food,” Fedor said. “There are other ways to celebrate it.”

The Initial Reason

At the , where Fedor was principal in 2007, students would often bring in cupcakes and other sweets for their birthday. The problem was many students had allergies and were not allowed to eat the cupcake, she said.

“There would be one or two poor kids in the room who couldn’t eat, and they would feel like they weren’t part of the party,” Fedor said. “That’s pretty low.”

Most importantly, there were problems of knowing exactly what is in the food, and that can pose health risks for students with allergies, Fedor said. So she, along with the other elementary school principals, pushed for the elimination of students bringing food into the classroom for other students, which the Board of Education adopted five years ago.

“We wanted parents to feel comfortable that their children would only be eating from two sources, what they bring from home or what they eat through our hot lunch program,” Fedor said. “We wouldn’t be regulating what they would bring from home for themselves or anything like that.”

The Impact

The impact has been largely positive, she said. Teachers were happy with the change, because the sweets often took away from class time, Fedor said.

Students also began celebrating birthdays in a different way, she said. For example, sometimes parents would come in and read to the child, or other times they would have their child bring in arts and crafts for the other students, she said.

“It just shows a way to celebrate a birthday without have it centered around food,” she said.

The rule has drawn little controversy since it was implemented, Fedor said. And when asked if the move reduced personal liberty, Fedor said it actually enforced it.

“Sometimes I would have parents tell me they didn’t want their students to eat a cupcake at 10 a.m., and how are you going to tell a student who isn’t allergic they can’t eat what everybody else is eating,” she said. “It gives parents more control.”