Changes made to district food service program

Hot Springs County School District #1 has made some changes to the food service program for the 2016-17 school year.

The changes include a structural change moving from one food service director to three head cooks as well as using more recipes that are built from scratch to avoid feeding students processed food. The district has also removed considerable paperwork from the duties of the cooks to ensure more of their time is devoted to quality meals for students.

Superintendent Dustin Hunt shared the importance of the meal program, “We have to look at the whole child, and nutrition and health are a huge part of the equation.”

The structural change to three head cooks creates opportunities for the team to share ideas, while also being able to cater more to the age and tastes of the students. Each school is able to offer different menus.

The head cooks are Tammy Redland at Hot Springs County High School, Jan Sharp at Thermopolis Middle School, and Jean Anderson at Ralph Witters Elementary.

“We are excited for the food service team, and we have great confidence that they will continue to grow as food service professionals.” The head cooks are meeting regularly with business manager Chauncy Johnson to streamline orders, share recipes and to share successes and challenges.

The restructured program has suffered a few hiccups in the first few weeks of school but each one has been a learning experience for all involved.

“The best way to get better, is to learn together and they are doing great,” shared Superintendent Hunt.

The district hopes to double the positives by serving food prepared from scratch. First, serving students less processed food is a priority for health reasons. Second, the district, through the work of the cooks, hopes to reduce costs for better meals. An example given by business manager Chauncy Johnson was pancakes. He compared the cost of a box of pre-prepared pancakes, to a bag of pancake mix. “Our cooks can put a scratch pancake on the tray much cheaper and with comparable labor, and our cooks scratch cooking tastes better as well,” said Johnson.

Scratch cooking tastes better and the saved funding will improve the food service budget that has traditionally had to be supplemented by the district as much as $125,000 in overages. However, the entire goal is not just to reduce costs. The district has plans to utilize some of the savings to invest in the program.

“Food is a part of culture, and if we want the best culture in our schools, we will have to continue to improve and invest in the future of our program to provide healthy options that taste good,” said Hunt.

Making changes to the food service program is not an easy task. First Lady Obama championed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (H.H.F.K. 2010), that changed regulations and standards for food served. The act also dramatically raised food prices and labor costs.

Each ingredient from every meal must be entered into a database to ensure that the district meets requirements. Annually, the district is audited to ensure compliance with state and federal regulations. This means that each scratch meal created for students must be entered into the database.

Some of the meals served may have a catchy name for good reason. The cooks have been encouraged to share personal favorites, as well as those from staff members to create ownership in the food program. One example, “Suzy-Q” casserole is a favorite recipe from RWE secretary Susan Little and is a hit with the students. Ralph Witters has even begun discussion about having students nominate some recipes.

“Nobody wants to put love into these meals more than our cooks, and we want them to feel ownership in the program so they can build it to be the best it can be,” shared superintendent Hunt.

Hunt added, “Jim Collins wrote that good is the enemy of great, and when it comes to our kids, we need to leave good behind and be chasing great with not just academics, but nutrition, health, and all facets of our students.”

Hunt pointed to a community that does an amazing job looking after student needs when it comes to feeding them. “We have snack time built into schedules, we write grants for free fruits and vegetables, our teachers purchase snacks for their rooms in case a student is hungry, our parents sign up to bring snacks to the classroom, our staff volunteers for the People for People Backpack Program that provides students who qualify, food for the weekend at no cost, our food service staff feeds summer school kids, and for the last two years our food service staff has run a community food program for families to come in and eat at the school during summer break.”

Chauncy Johnson Hot Springs County Business Manager who supervises the food service program shared, “It has been a lot of work, and it will continue to be, but it is absolutely worth it. We have great people, and we will work through the obstacles and hurdles to making change for our kids.”

Johnson encouraged parents that have questions regarding the food service program to contact him at 864-6580.