Charge Lunches

This week I consulted with a district whose CN Program lost nearly $50,000.00 last year, and the new Superintendent, and Business Official said, "This has to stop, one way or another". They were talking about a Management Company coming in or drastically cutting labor hours. As I reviewed the program, there were a number of problems:

1. An excess of 22 labor hours per day that could be cut.
2. Food costs that were 7% higher than I recommend (a savings of $35K)
3. Breakfast participation was practically non-existent due to bus schedules and principal policy.
4. Students had amassed over $15,000.00 in unpaid charges.
5. There were other problems but it is the "charges" that I want to discuss today.

Charge Lunches

I believe that every Board of Education should adopt a Charge Meal Policy and ensure that all parents receive a copy and understand the policy, and that there will be no exceptions made.

A charge meal policy should allow for (depending on the district) between 3 to 5 charges. When one charge remains, the cashier should give the elementary student a pre-printed note to take home to the parent that indicates that only one charge remains and that in accordance with the Board Policy, an alternate lunch will be served after the next charge is incurred. The alternate lunch should (in my opinion) offer the student a choice ...perhaps Cheese Sandwich or PBJ (if allowable in the building), plus of course the remaining components of the meal pattern selected. No exceptions.

In the district that I visited, their charge meal policy was essentially as I just described, and had been in place for a few years. The problem was that building principals, social workers, nurses, etc demanded that the cafeteria give the (elementary student) the lunch of the day, and not the alternate lunch. As a result this program that lost $35K on the operation, now added $15K more to their operational loss for a year ending loss of $50,000.00 and a new Superintendent that was ready to bring in a Management Company.

Fortunately for the food service staff, the new Business Official had used my consulting service in a previous district, knew that I could help, and invited me into the district to evaluate the program and to make recommendations to turn the program around.

Continuing with the Charge Lunch topic. During my visit to the district, I was in one of their Elementary schools at 11:00 AM to observe lunch service. The site manager was new to the building and informed me that the charge lunch policy only allowed for a cheese sandwich and that teachers were complaining. About that time the first grade teacher was entering the line with her class, and very loudly began to say, "I will not allow my students to receive a cheese sandwich, not my class". She was loud, certainly "on stage", and an embarrassment to the school, herself, and did all that in front of her students. Unbelievable and unacceptable. Eventually the principal came down to see what was going on. Jumping back a bit, I tried to explain to the teacher the Board Policy, the self-supporting nature of the program, etc. But she was one of those individuals that had an ideology and did not want to listen to anyone else. She actually wanted all the studennts served "free", whether they had an application on file or not.

Anyway, you all "get the picture", and I am sure many of you have "been there". I emailed the Superintendent that evening, explained what had occurred, and "sung the praises" of the site manager, who did not engage the teacher, kept her "cool", and was a true professional. I suggested that he, contact her and recognize her professionalism.

The real problem here was not the Charge Meal Policy, and (to an extent) not the teacher, the problem was a district who did not take the time to train the building priincipals, and the faculty with respect to the food service program and its need to operate on a self-supporting basis. Principals and faculty need to receive training on Superintendent/Teacher Conference Days on the "workings" of the Food Service Program and how decisions that the administration and faculty make can affect the ability of the food services team to meet their mission, and financial goals of their operational budgets...something with which principals and teachers do not have to contend.

Next Posting...I will in a series of postings take you through the remainder of this consulting visit, discussing problems, and some of my recommendations for corrective action.

Be well
Frank