Hardy County Schools names new child nutrition director; board hears plan for remote-monitoring system and program finances

At the March 17 Hardy County Schools meeting, Becca Lewis introduced Emily Thorne as the district’s new child nutrition director. Thorne described recent school taste-tests during National School Breakfast Week, operational changes and an investment in digital monitoring to protect food safety.

Thorne told the board that cooks have begun using Primero for inventory and ordering and that the district has received a remote-monitoring system (described in the meeting as hubs plus individual monitors) that will continuously record freezer and cooler temperatures. The system will alert designated staff and principals if temperatures approach the danger zone, which staff said will reduce food loss and the need for twice-daily manual checks.

Staff explained that the initial hardware deployment included one hub per school and multiple individual monitors for freezers and milk coolers; staff also said the district paid for a year of subscription service to receive alerts. The meeting record contains an unclear single-digit figure for a per-unit cost (the transcript reads "about $8 for them" in one passage), but staff explicitly stated the annual subscription cost is about $2,300 going forward and that state matching grant funds helped cover first-year costs. Board members and staff discussed whether the child-nutrition budget or a state grant would pay recurring costs; staff said the subscription will not be paid out of the child nutrition program’s daily operating funds but from a state matching grant for this first year.

Thorne also summarized recent menu initiatives (examples cited: a turkey kielbasa item at East Hardy High School and a fruit-loop waffle option with natural fruit dyes) and said the district ran a successful "breakfast for lunch" day at some high schools. On meal counts, Thorne said breakfast participation is mostly flat except for an identified drop at Moorfield High, and lunch participation is slightly down in a few schools; staff said they will investigate drivers including virtual student enrollment and attendance changes.

Board members asked about equipment needs; staff noted an oven/steamer at East Hardy High could cost roughly $10,000–$12,000 and that additional grant applications have just opened. Staff said they will pursue grants where appropriate and bring equipment requests back to the board as needed.

The board thanked Thorne for taking the role and for the operational updates.