Wayzata staff say ballot measure would let three elementary schools cook on-site, improving meal quality and equity

Wayzata Public School District food-service leaders described on a district podcast how a ballot question this spring would convert three elementary “satellite” kitchens into fully functioning on-site kitchens, a change they said would improve meal quality and reduce logistical strains.

Michelle Segedale, director of Wayzata Cafes, and Joanne Kern, a Wayzata Cafes assistant at Sunset Hill Elementary, spoke on the episode about current operations and the limits of the satellite model. “A satellite kitchen is a kitchen that does not have a fully functioning kitchen,” Segedale said, explaining that the district’s satellites lack hot cooking equipment and walk-in refrigeration that are needed to prepare and hold hot meals on-site.

The discussion matters to families because, under the current system, hot meals for Sunset Hill are cooked at Oakwood Elementary, loaded into carts around 8:45–9:00 a.m., and arrive at Sunset Hill roughly 9:35–9:50 a.m. Staff then check temperatures and hold food until the…