District 94 to keep current food service model after student pilot of National School Lunch guidelines

Community High School District 94’s administration recommended Thursday that the district not move its high school food service to the National School Lunch Program after a weeklong pilot and a student survey showed low student acceptance of the NSLP-style meals.

The administration presented results from a three-day NSLP pilot and an associated student survey with 256 responses; 41% of respondents said they would not eat the NSLP-style food even if it were offered free. Based on that feedback and the district’s view that the NSLP menus were less popular, administrators recommended maintaining the district’s existing contract with Quest Food Management and its current meal options.

Administrators said Quest has partnered with the district for more than 10 years and that recent changes — including adding universal free breakfast, a new serving location near door 1 to increase accessibility, the summer meals program and free breaks meal packs — have increased participation. The district said it distributed nearly 6,000 meal packs over three breaks at a total cost of $37,888 for the 2025–26 school year.

Board members and staff discussed trade-offs between healthier menu requirements under the NSLP (whole grains, reduced sugar, salt and fat and portion restrictions) and student taste and participation. Dan, a district staff member who tasted the pilot menu, described the options as "a little different" and "edible," while other board members noted students were vocal in their negative response during the pilot.

Administration told the board that cost differences between the NSLP-style meal and the district’s current "Wildcat" meal are negligible: both were estimated at $4.75 in the presentation. Administrators also discussed potential reimbursement and participation strategies under federal options such as the Community Eligibility Provision, which allows some districts to provide free meals to all students and increase participation rates; the district cited District 33 as an example of a district participating in that provision.

On break meals, administrators reported increasing uptake across Thanksgiving, winter and spring distributions and recommended continuing the program. Board members requested family feedback about how the break meals are used, while noting concerns that surveys should be anonymous to avoid stigma among recipients.

Administrators said they will present a Quest contract for approval at the June 17 board meeting and plan a request-for-proposal process in late 2026 for the 2026–27 school year to test the market and ensure quality, using a rubric that weighs taste, service and cost (not only lowest price). They said they will include student taste tests in any future vendor selection process.

No formal vote on NSLP adoption or on the Quest contract occurred at this meeting; the board signaled support for the administration’s recommendation to continue with Quest and to continue the break-meal program subject to further feedback and a formal contract decision at the June 17 meeting.