North Ridgeville expands breakfast, salads and high-school coffee under Aramark partnership

Carlene Schroeder, the district director of operations, introduced Leslie McKinney, food service director for Aramark, who presented menu and program changes planned for the coming school year.
McKinney said the district is following state nutritional standards and reported meal participation growth: breakfast sales were up about 3 percent and lunch about 5 percent over the prior year. To boost breakfast uptake, she said Aramark will expand a smoothie program piloted late last year and will offer Uncrustables daily, noting students responded strongly to that product.
“We still love my job,” McKinney said, opening her remarks, and later described the menu changes: 10 new premade salads (Asian, Mexican, Italian, fruit, cobb among them), six new drink options available to fifth through 12th grades (constrained by state guidelines), and a revamped high-school coffee program called Ranger Grounds featuring a staffed coffee table and a featured breakfast item such as a croissant sandwich.
McKinney said the district will publish menus and photos on a new NRCS Nutrition social media account and that 25 of the district’s food-service employees have completed ServSafe certification training this summer (25 of 30 reported goal). She also described partnership work with the district’s ABLE team on classroom projects and employee appreciation events and said staff are discussing using student-grown herbs in kitchens.
Board members praised the new salad and beverage options and thanked McKinney for the updates. The presentation was informational; no board action was taken at the meeting.