The past year has been challenging for food service professionals in USD 257, Robert Vicin, regional manager with OPAA! Food Management service, told school board members Monday evening.
To start, the district opened a new elementary school right at the start of the fall semester. It was a challenging transition, Vicin said. He gave a lot of credit to Staci Talkington, the district’s food service liaison, for her help during those difficult first few weeks.
“She has gone above and beyond to make this transition a lot smoother,” Vicin said.
The district also saw a change in OPAA!’s director of food services. Alicia Stahl took over the position in October.
“Alicia is homegrown. She’s been working at the middle school for the last four years until this fall, so she understands food service,” he said.
Staffing and supply chain issues further complicated food service issues, but both seem to have improved.
The district is now fully staffed with 14 employees. Half are at the elementary school.
“These 14 ladies are hard-working women and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate what they’re doing and how hard it’s been to find them,” Vicin said.
He also thanked the district for moving an outdoor freezer and outdoor cooler to the elementary school. They were previously located at the high school campus, where elementary school meals previously were prepared and shipped to the three former schools.
“The elementary school is by far serving the most meals every day, so having that additional area to store stuff has been wonderful,” he said.
At the elementary school, about 230 students eat breakfast each day out of 540 total students. About 360 eat lunch.
Last year, another 100 or so students ate meals at school thanks to a USDA program that paid for meals for all students. That’s no longer the case.
“That’s kind of a big deal,” Vicin said. “We knew it was going to happen, and we’re trying to encourage more students to eat at school, especially breakfast.”
OPAA! set new goals for the next semester.
Among them:
Increase the variety of meals offered at the elementary school.
Increase hot options for high school, such as pizzas, taquitos, burgers.
Use hard trays and silverware instead of disposable.
