A district food service staff member reported staffing levels, meal-participation trends and planned equipment and procurement work during the communications section of the Ball Chatham CUSD 5 Board of Education meeting.

The presenter said the district currently employed 22 full-time and 20 part-time food service staff but had recent openings: seven part-time positions and one full-time position reported open at the time of the meeting. The presenter described a decline in the district's free and reduced eligibility percentage from a high of about 25.8% last year to a lower level in the current year; staff cited a combination of household application non-submission, changing direct-certification pulls and some enrollment declines as contributors to the shift.

The presenter said the pre-K program at Ball Elementary had been added to the district meal program and that the district began formally claiming those students this month, with morning pre-K students enrolled in school breakfast and afternoon pre-K students enrolled in the National School Lunch Program. The change is expected to generate additional federal reimbursements tied to meal counts.

Operational details and planned projects discussed:
- Local foods program: the presenter said the district plans to participate again and reported an allocation for local foods (amount reported in the meeting record). Timing for menus was indicated as April or May depending on vendor selection.
- Menu changes and student surveys: the district will run student preference surveys and test plant-based protein alternatives as part of menu trials.
- Self-service salad bars and packaging: Glenwood Middle School expanded a self-service salad bar and on-site fresh-packaging to increase selection and reduce waste.
- Procurement and equipment: the presenter said the district will issue bids this year for pizza and dairy contracts and that facilities staff plan to post RFPs soon for replacement dish machines at Glenwood Middle School and Glenwood High School; the dish-machine work is expected to be a summer project and is included in facilities budgeting.

Board members asked questions about eligibility trends and efforts to encourage families to apply for benefits. The presenter said the district sends multiple reminders during the year, uses direct certification through the State Board of Education and DHS partnerships, and attempts to enroll newly arriving students promptly.

The presenter closed by noting the district uses cooperative purchasing and local distributor relationships to lower costs and that some COVID-era supply-chain assistance funds remain but will run out this year.