FCPS to Pilot Soda Ban at Chantilly High School

Beginning in September, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) will be conducting a regular soda ban pilot at Chantilly High School and six other high schools among its 25 high schools. 

Soda products are not currently available in any Fairfax County public school during the school day, except for adult purchases in teachers’ lounges.

This ban will remove regular soda products from the after-school soda machines in each of the seven participating schools, which include Chantilly, Falls Church, Langley, Marshall, and West Potomac High Schools; Lake Braddock Secondary School; and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. 

Student and parent after-school fundraisers such as snack bars and booster clubs are excluded from this pilot.

In the participating schools, 47 existing soda machines will be replaced with 37 new, state-of-the-art glass front beverage machines, with the costs of the new machines covered by the Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo. 

The new items will include diet sodas, diet and unsweetened teas, coconut waters, V-8 Fusion Juice, SoBe Lifewaters, Propel® Zeros, and G2 Gatorade® products.

An evaluation of the one-year pilot will be conducted by FCPS’ Office of Food and Nutrition Services and will include an examination of revenues, students’ product preferences, and acceptance of new products.