Schools’ soda sales profits detailed in study

PORTLAND – School districts make millions of dollars from vending machine contracts with soft drink companies, but a nonprofit group has concluded that the nutritional costs aren’t worth it.

The Community Health Partnership issued a study Thursday detailing the contracts in 22 districts that represent roughly half of Oregon’s student population.

School districts are not required to report the contents of their contracts to the Oregon Department of Education.

A key concern of the partnership is the growing problem with childhood obesity.

Some Portland-area districts say they oversee soda sales and defended the contracts as sources of revenue.

The study says districts get larger commissions from soda sales than from juice or water.

Portland Public Schools receives half the price of each 20-ounce soda sold; 35 percent of the price of each 12-ounce soda sold; and 30 percent of the price of juice and water.

The partnership claims this gives schools incentive to push for the sale of large bottles of soda pop.

Beaverton and North Clackamas get 40 cents for scholarships for every case sold.

On average, contracts last nine years. Portland has been promised $2.2 million, Beaverton $2 million in incentives, Salem-Keizer $1.55 million and Hillsboro $1.3 million in addition to the proceeds from sales.

Community Health Partnership, based in Portland, is a group of doctors, nurses, public health officials and healthy-lifestyle advocates.

Bills the group supports opposing junk food in schools appear to be in trouble in the Legislature.

Some contracts are districtwide, some are with individual schools.

“People say we need these contracts because they bring in a lot of money,” partnership director Mary Lou Hennrich said. “Well, it’s not a lot of money.” The study concluded that the contracts bring in from $12 to $24 per student per year.

Betsy Biller, assistant superintendent in Hillsboro, said the district likely would not have built a $1 million all-weather turf field that’s shared by Glencoe and Hillsboro high schools without a contract with Coca-Cola, which footed the bill.

“Instead of 7-Eleven getting the profits, our schools are able to get the profits,” Biller said.

In Portland, former school board member Sue Hagmeier said she begrudgingly approved an exclusive contract with Coca-Cola in 2001 because she believed the cash-strapped school system had no choice.