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District reports multi-million-dollar food service operation, highlights menu changes and fund balance health
Summary
Food and Nutrition Supervisor David Montag described a roughly $3 million self-funded food service operation that served hundreds of thousands of meals this year, outlined menu innovations and recycling/donation partnerships, and warned that the program must remain fiscally self-sustaining to avoid drawing on general fund dollars.
Food service leaders told the board the district’s food and nutrition program served hundreds of thousands of meals across the 2024–25 school year and maintains a multi‑million-dollar fund balance while operating as a self-funded program.
David Montag, Food Nutrition Services Supervisor, said the department of 48 staff serves a central kitchen, seven elementary schools, two middle schools and a high school with two cafeterias and a café. “It’s been a busy year, through May over, we're now probably at a 135,000 breakfast, 475,000 lunches, 200,000 milks, catering, 25,000, retails, 500,000, and and our summer program last year was just about 8,000,” Montag said. He described expanded salad bars, local sourcing where feasible and a co‑op purchasing arrangement covering about 60 districts that the district serves as fiscal agent for.
Montag and Superintendent Dana Menogue emphasized that food service (Fund 50) is self-funded and that a healthy fund balance is critical. “If we spend more than we bring in, we have to have fund balance required, to cover that balance,” Menogue said. The board packet showed a fund trajectory that dipped during the COVID years but has recovered with federal and state one-time supports and local operations.
Leaders described menu innovations — protein bowls, international offerings, bento/grab‑and‑go boxes, hot honey Sloppy Joes and terriyaki-style bowls — and operational changes: consolidating multiple technology platforms, expanding milk-cart recycling and reuse partnerships with local nonprofit WayForward to redistribute unopened goods, and piloting middle‑school salad/grab‑and‑go options. Montag said some popular high‑school items include Mandarin orange chicken and mini corn dogs; elementary favorites include pizza.
Administrators noted cost pressures: some high‑end staff meals currently exceed the student meal price and a potential payment-processing fee might be shifted to parents in the future. The district also monitors non‑revenue days (staff in‑service, holidays) that affect food service revenue. Board members asked about gluten‑free options and portion sizes; Montag said the district offers a gluten‑free menu and will consider adjustments to portioning.
Ending: Officials said the program remains fiscally healthy for now but continues to plan for menu, operational and procurement changes to manage rising costs while maintaining student participation and local sourcing.
