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Board hears persistent food-service problems and considers staffing, schedule fixes
Summary
District staff described ongoing problems with the food-service contractor (late or changed orders, prepackaged meals and shortages), and the board discussed cafeteria redesign, staggered meal schedules, additional staffing, and the possibility of a driver to pick up bulk orders to improve meal quality and availability.
Board members and staff spent substantial time on cafeteria operations after staff reported repeated problems with the district’s food-service provider, including last-minute order changes and shortages that left the district serving more prepackaged meals than planned.
Staff said menu plans are often changed because vendors lack availability; that led to reliance on prepackaged items and difficulty maintaining planned menus (an example cited was widespread chicken shortages). The district noted logistical limits (no box truck for large pickups) and discussed options such as hiring an additional cafeteria employee, staggering lunch schedules so high school and elementary students do not overlap, redesigning the kitchen hood and equipment to enable more scratch-cooking, and using a maintenance/truck driver to pick up bulk orders from warehouse suppliers on scheduled days.
Staff indicated a superintendents-and-food-service summit is planned in June to explore regional solutions, and that collaboration with neighboring districts (Vaughn, Capitan and others) is underway to identify shared approaches. The board discussed potential funding sources (wind-farm grant funds or activity accounts) and noted any staffing or contract changes will be brought back to the board for approval.
Why it matters: school meals affect student nutrition and daily operations; repeated vendor issues and growing enrollment mean the district must adapt schedule, staffing and procurement to meet student needs.
Next steps: staff will pursue the June summit outcomes, investigate alternative food-service providers or contract adjustments, and present staffing and budget options for board consideration.
