District reports gains in school meals, wins federal and Gear Up grants and reviews facilities work

District administrators reported that school meal service saw a year‑over‑year increase in meals served and that the nutrition team will receive national recognition in October. The business manager and other administrators also briefed the board on the FY24 audit schedule, summer facilities work and two grant awards that will fund student opportunities.

Mia and other staff described operational changes — kitchen layout adjustments and staffing strategies — that helped increase service. The meeting packet and comments compared FY23 meal counts to FY24: last year’s FY23 totals were read in the packet as 6,674 breakfasts and 3,112 lunches (3,786 total was also cited in the transcript for FY23, likely a transcription artifact); FY24 counts were read as larger (the transcript contains fragments but references roughly 3,12 breakfasts and 5,991 lunches for a larger total). Because numeric strings in the transcript are inconsistent, the district’s official meal-service report should be used for exact counts.

Administrators said the nutrition team will send three staff to an October recognition event in Las Vegas (travel costs covered) and that substitutes will be used to maintain cafeteria operations while those staff attend. The business manager announced the FY24 audit entrance conference scheduled for Sept. 13 and noted an early-year budget pacing figure (about 8.28% of the budget spent versus 8.21% at the same point last year).

The board was also told the district is part of a regional award from the federal Workforce Opportunity in Rural Communities program; the district’s share was reported as $227,200 (part of a larger roughly $1.2M regional award). The grant was described as a three‑year effort to coordinate real‑world placements (work-based learning) with local employers and to reimburse travel costs for rural students to access placement sites.

Facilities work over the summer — deep classroom cleaning, painting, parking lot striping and a boiler reseal at Granite Street — was summarized and praised. Administrators credited volunteers and staff who completed work despite a smaller summertime crew.

Administrators said the district will post schedules and updates and provide a report back to the board after the Gear Up activities and grant planning take effect.

Next steps: district staff will finalize meal-service counts for official reporting, proceed with audit entrance activities, and move forward with grant implementation planning and required reimbursements and coordination with partner systems.