New state free‑meal program boosts participation; Lynbrook cites startup issues with breakfast and ordering

Lynbrook Union Free School District officials told the board that participation in the New York State Universal Free Meals Program has increased substantially and that the district’s newly contracted food service manager, Aramark, is scaling up operations amid early logistical problems.

At the meeting, the staff member presenting the food program update said the new state program has, in some schools, doubled or tripled meal counts compared with last year and that the district also launched elementary breakfast this year. The presenter said Aramark began service just days before school started and that staffing and order‑fulfillment challenges followed.

To address line delays at elementary breakfast, the district announced it will stop preordering for breakfast at Marion Street, West End and Waverly Park — allowing students to pick meals in the cafeteria — while maintaining preorders at the Kindergarten Center because those breakfasts are prepared and delivered to classrooms. “Starting Monday, we are getting rid of the pre ordering for breakfast,” the presenter said.

District staff said the preordering system remains in place for elementary lunches for now and asked families to continue ordering lunches in advance (the district asked parents to preorder by Sunday for the coming week). Officials said the ordering system requires advance requests for meals that are prepared offsite; Kindergarten Center delivery still requires preorders because meals are prepared the day before and transported to classrooms.

Officials also said some nutrition information was temporarily unavailable because of software integration issues between Aramark and the district’s ordering software; the district expects nutrition details to be posted by the end of the following week. Allergy information, the presenter said, is available on the district website.

Why it matters: higher participation affects staffing, food preparation and delivery logistics. District leaders asked the community to help by completing free‑and‑reduced applications, which affect federal reimbursements and eligibility for other program supports.

Other notes: the presenter said the elementary cafeteria food quality has noticeably improved in some schools; the district requested additional monitors to manage breakfast and lunch lines and welcomed community applicants for short‑hour positions.

No new contract approval was taken at the meeting; the board had previously awarded food service management to Aramark at an August meeting, the presenter said.