GORHAM – A new rule banning cupcakes and other sweets at Gorham elementary school parties has left a sour taste with at least two parents speaking out against it this week.

But, others praise the mandate, an effort to teach students healthier eating habits.

The ban at Gorham’s three elementary schools prohibits parents from sending cupcakes and other foods to school with their children, as young as those in kindergarten, to share with schoolmates at parties and holiday celebrations.

“For me, I just feel it’s ridiculous,” Melissa Spicer, a mother of three children attending Great Falls Elementary School in Gorham, said on Monday.

Spicer and Jamie Douglass, a mother of two children at Great Falls, protested the so-called cupcake ban at a School Committee meeting on Feb. 12 and displayed their sign that read, “Save the Cupcakes.”

Douglass said the ban began last fall at the Gorham schools with cupcakes, and “mushroomed out” to get more support.

“It steps on parents’ toes,” Douglass said.

Lollipops were not allowed on Valentine’s Day at Great Falls School, Douglass said.

“No shared foods in school whatsoever,” Douglass said.

The School Committee did not originate the ban. “The School Committee does not have a policy that addresses what foods students can bring to school,” said Kathy Garrard, chairwoman of the board’s Policy Committee. “The cupcake policy is an administrative procedure that the three K-5 principals chose to implement last fall.”

Principals at three Gorham elementary schools – Polly Brann at Narragansett School, Brian Porter at Village School and Jane Esty at Great Falls – announced their new wellness procedures in a letter to parents earlier this school year.

“Beginning with this letter, we ask that parents do not send in any food for celebrations, such as birthdays and holidays to be shared in classrooms. This does not include the daily snacks that you send in for your own child, however we encourage you to provide healthy options,” the letter reads.

“This change does not mean that our children will not have fun, class parties or celebrations. Instead of food, students can participate in a variety of creative activities during holiday celebrations. Nonfood tokens such as stickers or pencils can be used to celebrate birthdays while promoting a healthier school environment.”

According to school Superintendent Ted Sharp, the ban on cupcakes “is simply a title that we have given to an initiative to focus on an intake of healthy foods by our students. The Wellness Policy provides the foundation for this work.”

Becky Fortier, the assistant principal at Great Falls School, in an email provided quotes from two parents who support the cupcake ban.

“For my family the no-foods-for-celebration program has helped us snack healthier at home, too,” said Debra Chasse, who has two children in elementary school.

“It’s better for them and it teaches kids that there is more to celebrations than the sugary treats,” said Stacy Smith, parent of a first-grade student.

Collin Henry, a third-grade teacher at Great Falls, said on Wednesday he rewards students who bring in healthy snacks like fruits and vegetables with points that can earn a classroom prize. Henry said the new rule is “the norm now. For the most part, they (students) seem OK with it.”

Spicer caused a stir at Great Falls in October when she walked in with a filled cupcake carrier, but it contained paper cupcakes.

“No one has intentionally challenged the new K-5 procedure. A few items came in when the year started from unknowing parents that were turned away,” Fortier said. “It really has been a non-issue.”

The new Gorham rule originates from the district’s involvement in Let’s Go!, a national childhood anti-obesity program that advocates more physical exercise and healthy eating for children.

Fortier, who facilitates Gorham’s K-12 District Wellness Committee, said that the Gorham elementary schools are registered with Let’s Go!, which, said Sharp, receives no funding from the district.

The new policy “was spearheaded by their wellness committee,” said Ashley Edmondson, the area’s Let’s Go! coordinator in the public health program at Opportunity Alliance in South Portland.

Edmondson said more than 70 percent of the staff at Gorham elementary schools supported the new procedure.

“You have to get leadership on board,” Edmondson said.

She lauded Gorham for adopting the procedure.

“We’re commending them in their efforts,” Edmondson said.

Edmondson said Cape Elizabeth’s elementary school has had non-food celebrations for 10 years, and in 2011 the Windham-Raymond School District revised its policy for similar celebrations.

In objecting to the ban, Spicer pointed out that the Gorham elementary schools are funded by tax dollars, and Douglass said she’s considering a petition to put the matter on a town ballot for voters to decide the issue.

Douglass said the ban has saddened children.

“This a community issue,” Douglass said.

Opposing a school cupcake ban, Melissa Spicer, left, and Jamie Douglass, both mothers of Gorham children, on Monday show their sentiments outside Great Falls Elementary School.