Taos schools report summer food program served thousands, returns leftover funds for next year

Christina Duran, student nutrition program supervisor for Taos Municipal Schools, reported on the district’s 2024–25 summer food service program during the Aug. 6 board meeting, saying the program provided grab-and-go meals to children across town in June and July. Duran told the board the district partnered with the state Early Childhood Education and Care department (ECECD) to operate the program and “we fed children across the community between the ages of 1 and 18 years old.” She described a drive-through distribution setup at the library area and said the program operated 16 days in June and 12 days in July. District figures presented at the meeting show breakfast and lunch counts during the program. For June Duran reported 2,415 breakfasts and 2,746 lunches served; for July she reported 1,865 breakfasts and 1,965 lunches. Duran said ECECD provided an initial allowance of $29,715 for the effort and that, after paying food and material invoices, “we profited about 16,500, $11.28,” a figure recorded verbatim in the meeting transcript. Superintendent Dr. Antonio Layton Jr. and board members asked follow-up questions about how the remaining funds may be used. Duran said she plans to retain the leftover funds “in the pot” to serve as start-up funding for next year’s summer food program, or to add the money to the district’s National School Lunch Program application for future food purchases. Board members and administrators also discussed program details: the district used USDA commodities processed in the warehouse for many main entrees; some sites provided a hot breakfast (Enos Garcia Elementary was specifically mentioned); menus included hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, turkey patties, pizza, corn dogs and cold-cut sandwiches, with breakfasts such as Pop-Tarts, cereal and apple fritters. Duran told the board that children “were come wanting seconds and thirds,” and that the kitchens passed both an inspection and an audit after resuming ECECD participation after a five-year hiatus. Board members asked about using leftover funds to address an operational deficit in the nutrition program; Chief Operations staff responded that the allowance cannot be used to pay personnel and that the department’s deficit stemmed from staffing levels and salaries rather than food purchases. The board encouraged the district to publicize the program’s results. Vice President Spray and others suggested the district share the success story with the Taos News and use the model to increase participation and outreach next year.