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Food services says O6 fund is self‑sustaining; district will keep no‑cost meals next year
Summary
Food service supervisor Susie Ghart reported the O6 fund covers salaries, food and equipment; meal counts rose this year (778,000 breakfasts; 1,243,346 lunches) and Ghart said entitlement funding and cooperative bids keep the program self‑sustaining, allowing free breakfast and lunch to continue in 2026–27.
Food service supervisor Susie Ghart told the Pickerington Local School District board on May 26 that the district’s food program operates from the O6 fund, which pays staff salaries and benefits, food, non‑food supplies, equipment repairs and some utility costs separate from the general O1 fund. Ghart said the department staffs 77 employees and manages procurement with cooperative bids and entitlement (commodity) dollars to contain costs.
Numbers: Ghart said the district served about 778,000 breakfasts this school year (29,000 more than the prior year) and 1,243,346 lunches. She said the USDA entitlement/commodity allocation available for 2026–27 is about $500,000 to spend on food purchases through state contracts and vendor agreements.
Cost management and compliance: Ghart described strategies for coping with rising grocery costs—reducing beef frequency, using bid‑group pricing that only changes twice a year and diverting commodity dollars to name‑brand or vendor products to reduce per‑meal cost. She said the department passed a recent administrative review with corrected off‑site findings and expects the on‑site summer meals review this year. Ghart said the district will continue to provide no‑cost breakfast and lunch next year because the O6 budget remains stable.
Board questions focused on grocery cost inflation, meal reimbursement mechanics and how C (direct‑certified) counts affect universal meal eligibility. Ghart said the district groups buildings for reimbursement calculations and the resulting formula can make per‑meal rates complex, but the result enables broader free meal coverage for students in the district.
Next steps: Administration and the board praised the department’s operations and noted some staffing vacancies tied to retirements and the opening of Ridge View Middle School. The board thanked Ghart for the presentation and confirmed continued monitoring of procurement bids and entitlement spending.
