Child Nutrition director reports 1.3 million meals served, pilot of breakfast in cafeteria and changes to a la carte and menu planning

Kim Prowl, the district’s director of Child Nutrition, briefed the Corsicana ISD Board of Trustees on June 16 on meal counts, pricing, staff training and planned menu changes for the coming year.

Prowl reported the district served just over 1.3 million meals in 2024–25, with breakfast participation about 823,000 and lunch participation about 518,000. Student meals are free; staff breakfast and lunch prices are $2.50 and $4.25 respectively, and visitor and student visitor prices vary by campus level.

Child Nutrition piloted moving breakfast service to the cafeteria at most elementary campuses to reduce food waste that staff said occurred with classroom breakfast distribution. Prowl said the cafeteria pilot allowed the department to create “share stations” for unopened, approved items so other students can take items rather than discarding them; she said Navarro and Carroll piloted full transitions late in the year and Fannin ran a fourth‑grade trial because of limited space.

Prowl said a la carte sales — snack and extra‑entree purchases — are an important revenue source that funds equipment and upgrades. The department also plans to expand campus taste testing, increase visual nutrition signage, continue staff training including manager certification and adapt menus to be more culturally diverse. Prowl said the Texas Department of Agriculture is moving to ban food dyes in school foods and that vendors and the district will work over the next year to remove dyes from offered items.

At the high school, nutrition staff plan to move a variety of snack offerings to a bistro area to reduce congestion at main lunch lines while keeping reimbursable meal lines at the back of the serving area.

No action was required; the presentation was informational and intended to update the board before the new school year.