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Child Nutrition director says district will seek withdrawal from regional commodities co‑op to gain local control
Summary
Child Nutrition Director Debbie Kenderian told the board the department will propose a resolution to withdraw from a regional purchasing cooperative (PCO) in order to use entitlement funds locally, pursue more scratch‑cooking menus and capture savings from a distribution center arrangement.
Debbie Kenderian, director of Child Nutrition, told the board she intends to bring a resolution at the next meeting to withdraw the district from the Partners in Nutrition Cooperative (PCO) JPA so the district can exercise local control over USDA entitlement spending.
Kenderian summarized the program’s scale: roughly 160 Child Nutrition employees, approximately 1.3 million breakfasts and 1.5 million lunches served last year, and reported USDA entitlement last year of just under $600,000. She described PCO as a self‑managed joint powers authority that acts as a USDA receiving agency for participating districts and said administrative costs charged through the JPA totaled about $155,000 for the district last year as reported in the presentation.
Kenderian argued that local control of entitlement and commodity choices would allow the district to prioritize whole or minimally processed foods and invest in scratch cooking and higher‑quality proteins (for example, whole‑muscle chicken rather than reformed pressed meat), which she said would support increased participation and better nutrition. She said the district can remain in the JPA through 2024–25 while a withdrawal notice and board approval are processed and that staff plan to present a board‑approved notice consistent with co‑op deadlines.
Board members asked logistical questions about how breakfast‑in‑the‑classroom counts are managed, milk and fruit portions, salad‑bar pilots at middle schools, and the District’s freezer and distribution capacity. Child Nutrition staff said the district’s freezer capacity and existing Broadline distributor relationships (named Cisco in the presentation) provide flexibility and that the district has contracted with a chef service (Brigade) to hire chefs to support scratch cooking pilots and menu rollouts.
Kenderian asked the board to expect a resolution on withdrawal at the next board meeting; the board did not vote on the withdrawal at this session.
Ending: Staff will return with a formal resolution and timeline for any withdrawal from the cooperative so the board can consider required notices and the operational transition.
