Whenever I do a consulting visit, I always look at breakfast for the above two reasons. Normally I see a manager who has planned a very nice menu, staff coming in early to prepare breakfast, and only a few students who actually take the time to have breakfast at school. The reasons are many and as varied as the districts we serve. They can include: The bus schedule is so tight there isn't time. The principal doesn't want the students off the bus until the bell rings (leaving no time for breakfast). The cafeteria is not in proximity of the main entrance where the bus drops off students. The menu is always a cold cereal, "pop tart" breakfast. And the reasons go on and on.
For me when the staff is there, and the food is there (I'll address menus a bit later), essentially the costs are being paid for anyway. So the more students we "get in" we can almost say all that revenue goes immediately to the bottom line (not exactly but in a way...). Although there is no easy solution here, you cannot allow yourself to ever stop promoting and "pushing" breakfast. You need to become the biggest breakfast "pain in the _ _ _" there is.
You can try "selling the parent" (elementary only) on the benefits of breakfast at school in a newsletter quoting all the statistics about better classroom performance, achievement test scores, etc. You can do a "bag" or "grab-n-go" breakfast a the front door, you have have special pricing and a whole lot more. BUT --and that's a big but, if the principal doesn't support your effort you will never truly succeed unless the parents demand a change.
This may sound self-serving and I don't intend it to be, but that is one of the benefits of having a consultant who "thinks like me" to come in. I can put all that "stuff" in writing and quote the amount of money the program is losing that could easily go to the principal's budget, or to help keep the local tax rate down. That type of "writing" from an outside "expert" catches a Board Member's eye and can result in change, or at least better cooperation from the principal. I have done this and seen it happen more times than I can say.
Then it becomes a question of the menu. In my opinion, menus at all levels should offer hot options every day. Items like French Toast Sticks, Tater Tots, Pancakes, Bagels with cream cheese, breakfast pizza, scrambled egg, pancake/sausage on a stick, and breakfast sandwiches are popular at ALL LEVELS.
Today, high school students stop for coffee on the way to school, and when they leave school. Yet I always hear "we can't serve coffee to students". And I ask why? If it's caffein that is the issue serve "De-Cafe". Otherwise work to get that item out of your wellness plan - it's costing you money. At the high school you need to make your cafeteria the place where students want to gather before class in the morning, to chat, cram for the day's test, copy homework, whatever. Who cares, as long as they are in your dining room and spending money. If these student can get from your cafeteria what they get at a Dunkin Donuts or convenient mart on the way to school, they will by-pass the "Mart" and eat in your cafeteria. BUT and again a big but, you have to make it attractive, and set up in the manner of a Coffee Shack (so to speak). Try to get the OK to operate your cafeteria like a college student union for the Seniors, as a class privilege.
The money is there but you have to go and get it and that is not easy. The schools that I know who have a high school breakfast offering coffee, tea, hot chocolate, an assortment (say again) Assortment of hot breakfast sandwiches, donuts (yes even donuts), bagels and more are making a lot of money. As I said it's there but you have to go get it.
I know it's easy for me to say but these things work. Unfortunately today everyone is trying to be nutritionally and politically correct which is alright if someone else is footing the bill. But for my clients that is no longer the case or I wouldn't be in the district. So for me, getting asked to visit the district is the biggest step, and once I put it all in writing with real "numbers", it's difficult for principals, board members, and even cafeteria managers to argue against some of these ideas. Often it takes a paradigm change with respect to most administrators when it comes to the cafeteria, and with some managers/directors as well.
Remember every district has 3 choices when it comes to the cafeteria: Subsidize it at ever increasing amounts, require to to be self-supporting and do what ever is necessary to succeed, or turn it over to a Management Company. Often unknowingly, it is the cafeteria manager and his/her staff who are making this decision by the way the program is operated and their acceptance of change.
Breakfast at school can save jobs, and benefits, and keep programs out of the hands of a management company. But many managers refuse to change and accept some new ideas. If you are reading this and you are one of those managers, CHANGE before it's to late. If you are "with me" and you have a principal or Superintendent or Board who is resistant to your ideas, all I can say is try to get them to hire a consultant to work with you. Use any reason you need to to get that type of help, but you must find a consultant who thinks as you (I) do, and is willing to put it in writing and "call it as it is", and not in what is politically correct at the time. For a consultant to come in and say breakfast counts are low, cut the labor, or go to a cold breakfast is not what you want and it will not help your program in the long run.
Anyway this article is long enough. I have more thoughts and will post them in the weeks to come. Time for me to leave this one alone for now. Email me directly if you would like to discuss this further.
Merry Christmas
Frank
No comments:
Post a Comment