Mr. Kessler, the district food service presenter, told the Westerville City Schools Board on Sept. 8 that the district served 1,788,844 meals last school year across 23 buildings and employs 106 food-service staff, 41 of whom have advanced food-safety training. He said the department operates on federal reimbursements and program sales and does not draw on the district general fund.

Kessler said breakfast prices start at $1.50 and that lunch prices and per-meal food-cost figures were provided during the report; he described the USDA-required meal components and recent federal limits on added sugars that took effect July 1, 2025: breakfast cereals may contain no more than 6 grams of added sugar per dry ounce, yogurt no more than 2 grams per ounce and flavored milk no more than 10 grams per 8 fluid ounces. “All meals are served in compliance with the United States Department of Agriculture,” he said.

The report highlighted district tools and family-facing services, including online menus, allergen filters, student transaction histories and weekly negative-balance notifications through Payschool Central and the LINC Connect mobile app. Kessler described how the district follows “offer versus serve” rules (students must be offered all required components and must select at least three items at lunch, including a fruit or vegetable) and noted alternate meals for dietary restrictions such as gluten-, egg-, dairy- and soy-free options.

Kessler said the department emphasizes Buy American procurement and Ohio suppliers when possible and noted exemptions for products not domestically available, listing bananas, pineapples, mandarin oranges and kiwi as examples. He described Farm-to-School work with local orchards and gardens, saying the district served apples from Bauman Orchard and participated in summer and fall “crunch” events to highlight local produce. “We did the Farm to School Summer Challenge … we won the silver bead award,” he said.

The presentation covered recent administrative reviews: the district completed an administrative review, procurement review and resource management review with no violations and received a commendation for organized paperwork and menu variety. Kessler said recent kitchen equipment upgrades at Hamby, Hawthorne, Whittier and other schools were funded from the food service account rather than the general fund and described plans to add more on-site cooking capacity in some elementary buildings to improve quality for students later in service lines. “All equipment purchased was using funds from the food service account, not funds from the general fund,” he said.

Board members and attendees asked about procurement equity, how menus are revised and how meals are prepared and distributed. Kessler described a spring review of sales and taste tests, and explained that many elementary meals are “satellite” prepared at central kitchens, loaded into hot or cold carts and shipped to buildings, with some buildings being upgraded to allow more on-site cooking. He noted that some items do not hold quality well in hot carts and said one goal is fresher food for later service lines.

Kessler closed by saying staff will continue menu analyses, taste tests and equipment replacement to serve nutritious meals in a friendly environment. “Our staff will continue to serve students nutritious meals in a friendly environment,” he said.