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School Nutrition director reports big summer feeding gains, seeks farm-to-school grants
Summary
School Nutrition Director Katie Rogers told the board the district’s rural non-congregate summer feeding served tens of thousands of meals and generated large reimbursement claims; she proposed pursuing regional Farm-to-School grants and noted Medicaid inclusion in direct certification may increase CEP eligibility.
School Nutrition Director Katie Rogers reported Aug. 19 that Minidoka’s expanded rural non-congregate (RNC) summer feeding operation served large meal volumes and generated substantial federal reimbursement claims.
Rogers said the district served breakfast and lunch over 18 days in June, totaling 14,626 breakfasts and 32,985 lunches, and reported claim totals in the meeting materials: $209,645.18 in a July claim worksheet and $154,654.17 for June. "We’re wrapping up summer with having claimed over $364,000 in reimbursement," Rogers wrote in the July summary. She told the board the RNC operations were enabled by a No Kid Hungry grant and training the team received and described the model as “trial and error” but successful in expanding reach.
Rogers also discussed program design and future grants: she plans to pursue cooperative Farm-to-School grants across the Magic Valley region to increase local procurement but said that will take multiple years to implement. She noted an operational change in direct certification—Idaho's inclusion of Medicaid in the Direct Certification pool—may raise the district’s Identified Student Percentage (ISP) into a range that could qualify schools for the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP); she said she will evaluate CEP for the next school year.
Board members asked for monthly negative-balance reports and clarification of roles in the School Nutrition department; trustees earlier approved most school nutrition job descriptions but held the director’s job description for further review.
Why it matters: The reimbursement increases and potential CEP eligibility could shift revenue and reduce barriers to free school meals. Pursuing regional Farm-to-School grants could redirect local food dollars into school meal programs over time.
