(Posted July 7, 2016)
By Amanda Amsel, Staff Writer
Jonathan Alder school leaders are taking a close look at how students use district food services and are making adjustments as needed.
According to Tonya Grove, food services director, students’ use of school food services was down this past school year compared to the year before, but revenues were up.
“We ended the school year in the black, which is great,” she said at the June 29 school board meeting.
In 2014-15, 11 percent of students ate a school breakfast and 52 percent ate a school lunch. In 2015-16, the percentages were 10.28 and 47.71, respectively.
“Our revenue was actually up for breakfast and lunch,” Grove added. “However, there may be concern down the road as to why our participation is down.”
Grove talked about leaving meal prices the same for next school year and reported that the district received a $5,000 grant from the American Dairy Association.
“We will be purchasing special blenders and introducing smoothies to the students,” Grove said. “We hope this will help us increase breakfast sales.”
The district also plans to keep the coffee bar put in place last school year.
“We saw students bringing in their coffees from Starbucks and thought there was potential there,” Grove said. “It has been a huge success so far and is something we want to continue with.”
Also at the meeting, Superintendent Gary Chapman said the district might receive a lower grade on the next state report card.
“While nothing is set in stone right now, we are looking at a D grade,” he said. “The frustrating part is, how do they explain us having a high grade the previous year and then having this significant drop. We still have the same teachers and students that we had the previous year.”
The district won’t officially know its grade until later this month.
“We are still going to stay the course and are still extremely proud of our staff and students,” Chapman said.
In other news, the district plans to launch its revamped website this month.
“The website will have a fresh new look and really will enhance the district,” Chapman said. “We are going to…really move the district forward.”
