District highlights National School Lunch Week, adds a la carte options; reports Hispanic Heritage event turnout

District nutrition staff briefed the board on National School Lunch Week and recent changes to menus and meal options during the Oct. 15 meeting.

A presenter noted that elementary students now have three meal choices per day (hot, cold and a breakfast bag) and middle-school students can choose from five items daily, including salads and wraps. The district added an a la carte program at the middle-school level, with items such as reduced-fat chips, reduced-sugar fruit snacks and reduced-sugar ice cream; the presenter said a la carte has been popular and that middle-school lines for ice cream form on Fridays.

Staffing numbers mentioned: five food-service team members at elementary schools and five at Central Middle School who support meal service across the district. The presenter thanked the board for support of child-nutrition programs and noted the role of meals in student learning and wellbeing.

District staff also reported on a district Hispanic Heritage Month event held at Northeast that they estimated drew about 110 community members and students who took raffle tickets (breakdown: 54 from Northeast, 19 from CMS, 13 from Southeast, 11 from Southwest, 10 from Northwest and three from the high school). The event included a mariachi performance from Kalmeika Academy, tacos, loteria (Mexican bingo), raffle prizes and multiple activity rooms. The district announced an upcoming Culture Night on Dec. 4 at Central Middle School.

The board thanked staff for the events and the nutrition team for their work and visibility during National School Lunch Week.