Alcohol label tops Fremont school board agenda

Spirits — alcoholic, not holiday — are on the agenda of tonight’s meeting of the Fremont Public Schools board of education.

The board meets at 6:30 p.m. at the Main Street Education and Administration Center, Ninth and Main streets. On tap is discussion of a resolution of support calling for the reversal of a July 2006 decision by the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission that reclassified flavored alcoholic beverages, or “alcopops,” as beer rather than distilled spirits.

Project Extra Mile, an underage drinking prevention program, is sponsoring the resolution which claims the classification benefits the alcohol industry, as taxes on beer are 31 cents per gallon compared with the $3.75 per gallon tax on distilled spirits.

The resolution also says alcopops are “starter drinks” particularly popular among 14- to 18nyear-old girls and that classifying the products as beer increases their accessibility to young people as beer products can be sold at 1,535 locations in Nebraska while spirits can be sold at 718 off-premise locations.

Also on tonight’s agenda:

* Details of sale of the district’s Platte Street property.

* Acceptance of 2007-08 school calendar parameters.

* Revisions in the Nebraska Association of School Boards All Lines Interlocal Cooperative Aggregate Pool agreement.