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Date: 9/20/2023
WARE — During the Sept. 13 School Committee meeting, Food Service Director Jeff Nicholas gave an update on the food service program.
“It’s running well, our numbers remain strong in the lunch area but the number had dipped a little for breakfast at the middle school,” said Nicholas. He explained that the new program allows students to have more options to choose from for breakfast. Currently, they offer a variety of cereals, muffins, fresh fruit, juice, pancakes, raspberry bars, bagels, doughnuts, and more.
“We found that a lot of times with the grab-and-go, kids were eating one item out of the bag and throwing the rest away. We saw a large amount of items going to waste.” Since implementing the new program, Nicholas said he has seen less food waste. The only school in the district still using the grab-and-go method is the elementary school, due to the difficulty younger students have with longer breakfast times.
Nicholas also mentioned that food supply remains an issue due to manufacturing delays.
“It’s not just one certain area, it’s different food companies,” said Nicholas. While the cost of food is continuing to rise, Nicholas said he will maintain the variety of food choices offered in the schools. He also mentioned plans for future updates to certain appliances including a 35-year-old dishwasher.
“As far as staffing goes, I feel we are very lucky,” said Nicholas, who noted that staffing is not an issue and thanked the current staff he has.
Other updates to the food program included changes to the meal charge policy.
Superintendent Michael Lovato continued the meeting with his update.
“It’s open house time, grades four through six are on Sept. 21, pre-K through kindergarten is on Sept. 26 as well as grades one through three at 5:30 p.m.,” said Lovato.
Picture day at the high school began on Sept. 13 and pictures for SMK will be on Sept. 19 and middle school on Sept. 27.
“We have some book fairs coming up on Sept. 22 and 25, we will continue to update on those,” said Lovato.
Other events happening soon include a bus evacuation on Sept. 21 and a “Wear You Favorite Hat Day” on Sept. 22.
“Due to a shortage of bus drivers, we are making changes to our sports schedules pretty consistently,” said Lovato.