Child Nutrition director reports rise in meals served, new hires and farm-to-school work

Mr. Ward, the district’s child nutrition program director, told the board the department is aiming to increase staffing by 20% over the prior year and has taken concrete steps toward that goal.

"We actually interviewed 60 prospective candidates as well, and we got an opportunity to employ and hire 42 Huntsville City School employees," Ward said, adding that the program received about 200 applicants after posting openings in June. He reported the district has served 2,728,176 meals since Aug. 1 — "65,082 meals more than prior year."

Ward described program improvements beyond staffing: four school sites received a 100 health inspection rating from the Alabama Department of Public Health (listed in the presentation as Sunny Hereford, Columbia High, Montview, and Huntsville Junior), a new CareerTech kitchen opened this school year, and a farm-to-school initiative will introduce locally produced items purchased through a local distributor. "We purchase them, and then the state actually gives us a small amount of claim revenue that we can claim with the amount of those meals that we do serve that entails local produce," Ward said.

Board members praised Ward and his team for behind-the-scenes work and asked about recruitment practices and whether successful approaches can be shared with other departments. One board member requested more measurable complaint and participation data related to transportation and other services to show year-to-year improvement; Ward and operations staff said they will provide additional tracking information.

The board thanked Ward and acknowledged staff nominations for support-staff awards. Ward said the district will continue to pursue staffing and program improvements as it prepares for the next school year.