District 47 Participates in the National School Lunch Program

School District 47 is always on the lookout for best
practices in education. The mission to provide
educational excellence for all students stands as
the top priority in managing the school system. However, student and parent support is also demonstrated in other areas not directly linked to teaching and learning. One of the sub-systems that operates within the confines of our schools is the cafeteria program.

Each year the school district serves approximately 766,000 lunches and has a participation rate of around 55%. The individual schools have the ability to prepare their own meals in fully stocked kitchens and are staffed by individuals who are trained to prepare and serve food within the federal, state, and local guidelines that regulate the lunch program.
The district’s food service program is managed and operated by Arbor Management. Through the bidding process, Arbor was selected to prepare menus, hire and train staff, serve food and oversee the details of the school lunch program.

The District is assigned a full time manager who is skilled in school cafeteria programming and is educated and trained in the areas of child nutrition and menu planning

District 47 participates in the National School Lunch Program. The objective of this program is to provide nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to public schools, non-profit private schools, and residential child care institutions. By choosing to take part in the National School Lunch Program, schools get cash subsidies and
donated commodities from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for each meal served. In return, lunches that meet the Federal requirements must be offered at free or reduced prices to eligible children.

The same nutritional requirements must be met for lunches served to those children that are not eligible for the program and must pay for lunches. During the next few months the Board of Education and the administration will be bidding out the lunch program contract. This is a good time to share information about our cafeteria program including the bidding and contract process, nutritional requirements of the National School Lunch Program, the revenue and expenditures of the lunch program what is offered versus served, and a perspective
of our school lunch program goals and objectives from two
board members who serve on the cafeteria committee.

The National School Lunch Program

Crystal Lake School District #47 has participated in
the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) for
many years. By accepting the guidelines established
by the program as a condition of participation, the District is able to provide free or low-cost lunches to students from low income families, receive food commodities to supplement the lunch program, and must adhere to the nutritional requirements stipulated in the program.
All school lunches must meet the applicable
recommendation of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
The Type A lunch we serve students cannot have more than 30 percent of an individual’s calories from fat and no more than 10 percent from saturated fat. The regulations also establish a standard for school lunches to provide one third
of the Recommended Dietary Allowances of protein,Vitamin A, Vitamin C, iron, calcium, and calories. Within these Federal nutrition requirements, school districts must make the decision on what foods to serve and how to best prepare the meals.

Any child may purchase a meal through the National
School Lunch Program. Currently District 47 charges $1.75 for a Type A lunch. However, those families who fall below specific income poverty levels are eligible for a free or a reduced price meal at $.40. Application is made through the school district and is strictly determined by an income scale developed by the Federal Government. For the period July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008 the poverty level for a family of four is $26,845. To be eligible for

a reduced price meal the same family of four needs an income lower than $38,203. For school districts that are participants in the National School Lunch Program the USDA reimburses schools at $2.47 for each free lunch served, $2.07 for each reduced lunch served, and $.23 for each fully paid lunch served.

The last component of the National School Lunch Program is “entitlement” foods or commodities that are purchased by the USDA and forwarded to schools. These foods assist schools in preparing their menus and meeting the nutritional requirements established by the program. Because of District 47’s participation in the National School Lunch Program, 723 students are eligible for a free lunch every school day and another 183 students are eligible for a reduced-price lunch. This helps to ensure that all of the District’s students have access to a nutritional lunch every day.

As mentioned before, School District 47 and Arbor Management have incorporated Offer Versus Serve into the cafeteria program. Once the menu has been established identifying the five required food items for a Type A lunch,
students have the ability to select what food items they want to eat. The requirements of the Offer Versus Serve Program are as follows:

1. All five (5) food items must be offered to all
students.

2. The serving size must equal the minimum
required quantities.

3. The lunch must be priced as a unit.

4. Students may take three (3), four (4),
or five (5) items for the same price.

5. Students have the option of which item(s)
to decline. Students may elect to take smaller portions of items like fruits or vegetables, but it does not count towards the requirements of a Type A lunch. School District 47 is committed to offering a quality lunch program at a reasonable cost. The lunch prices have
remained at $1.75 for a Type A lunch for 15 years. This has been accomplished by maintaining a high level of participation in the Type A lunch offering, which brings in federal and state reimbursement funds. A la carte offerings for students have financially supplemented the program, but are not the main objective of the program. Offering a
quality Type A lunch menu and allowing students to choose their meal is the ultimate goal.

Food, Glorious Food
By Lisa Knoeppel & Ruth Scifo

As school board members, one of our responsibilities is to assure the health and safety of our students. Not only does this involve what feeds their minds, but also what feeds their bodies. In short, what are children eating at school?
We have had the opportunity to work together on the Foods Committee during the last bid process, as well as the upcoming one. Our committee consists of 2 board members, an elementary and middle school principal, and Dave Cratty, the administrator in charge of our food service program. We’ve had the chance to visit and taste test food,
not only from our cafeterias, but also from surrounding area food providers.
We’ve discovered that not only are our schools very well maintained, but we have high quality, full service cafeterias. Unlike some districts, which prepare the food ‘off-site’ at satellite cafeterias, and ship the food to their surrounding schools, our schools prepare food ‘on-site’ in our state of
the art kitchens.
Aside from visiting various schools, we spoke with
students about taste, quantity and quality. We spoke with staff, food service directors and workers. We sampled food (some good, some not-so-good). We talked about pricing, lunch tickets, scanning systems, fresh fruit offerings, fresh vegetable offerings, drink choices, and a la carte choices.
You name it, we talked about it! One piece of information that was always missing from
our equation was parent input. Our quest this year was to change that. We had some assumptions of what our

parents thought and wanted, but we needed confirmation. So, we conducted a focus group with our Parent Group Advisory Council. We asked questions and the parents led
the discussion. We took notes, and lots of them. Based on the information we gained from that meeting, we formulated our Foods Survey.
Our Foods Survey was on-line, via a web link, from December through January. We received 756 responses.

While this number is low, in terms of feedback, we were happy to receive any information. Questions ranged from child food preference to cost of the lunches. Here are some important things we learned:

47.5% of you feel that menu consistency is NOT
important

62.8% of your children like raw carrots the most

52.9% of your children like cooked corn

33.6% of children like apples, while 31.1% like grapes

49.7% of children purchase snacks sometimes

35.7% of children do NOT purchase lunch due to taste and quality

Given the fact that our lunch prices have not changed in over 10 years, how much would you be willing to pay for a lunch that would offer more fresh fruits and vegetables? Your answer:

 59.9% would pay up to $2.00 for a school lunch. And overall, you rated our lunch program
satisfactory. Based on Mr. Miller’s assumption that ‘if better is possible, good is not enough’, we feel we can do better. A lot better.
Our next step has been to take all of the input we have received from you, our visits, and our discussions and formulate a specific bid packet that will be submitted to the various food vendors. In turn, they will review the packet
and submit a bid for our review and approval.
Our goal within the next year, is to provide children with healthier snack choices, less carbohydrates in one offering,
juices and bottled water, more fresh fruits and vegetables offered daily, less menu repetition, and a more appealing lunch room and possibly a ‘taste test’ for our parents. The question remains, “Are the food service vendors up to our
challenge?” We hope so, because we are determined to find one!
We would like to thank you for all your input and are looking forward to the next school year where we will be integrating your suggestions into our lunch program.

The Lunch Menu: What is the Goal?

Arbor Management uses a system called Enhanced
Food-Based Menu Planning when determining
what to serve students on a month to month basis.
Menus must meet the requirements of a Type A lunch as defined by the National School Lunch Program. As a complement to this menu planning approach, District 47 and Arbor Management have also incorporated a concept called Offer Versus Serve (OVS). The goals of OVS are to
reduce food waste in the school meals program and permit students to select the foods they prefer.
As a mandate of the National School Lunch Program, students must be offered five required food items for lunch. These items consist of one serving each of: Meat or Meat Alternative – This must be served in the main dish or in the main dish and one other menu item.
Milk – Schools must offer students whole milk and
unflavored lowfat milk.
Grains/Breads – One serving of bread, biscuits,
rolls, ½ cup of cooked rice, macaroni, noodles, or cereal grains. Vegetables/Fruits – Two servings of different vegetables, or two servings of different
fruits, or one serving of fruit (3/4 cup) and
one serving of vegetables (3/4 cup).
Finally, in menu preparation some consideration is given to what students like to eat and ultimately will purchase. School districts cannot operate their cafeteria system as
profit centers. However, all vendors that supply cafeteria services to school districts have a goal of making a profit. They are business enterprises. As a contracted partner with
school districts, they have a legal obligation to follow the nutrition requirements and menu planning requirements of the National School Lunch Program. Food service vendors have a responsibility to maintain student participation so
that the company can reach their anticipated profit margins and school districts can offer a quality lunch at a price that is affordable to parents.

As mentioned before, School District 47 and Arbor Management have incorporated Offer Versus Serve into the cafeteria program. Once the menu has been established identifying the five required food items for a Type A lunch, students have the ability to select what food items they
want to eat. The requirements of the Offer Versus Serve Program are as follows:

1. All five (5) food items must be offered
   to all students.
2. The serving size must equal the
   minimum required quantities.
3. The lunch must be priced as a unit.
4. Students may take three (3)
  , four (4), or five (5) items for the same price.
5. Students have the option of which
   item(s) to decline.

School District 47 Cafeteria Operations Budget
Total Budget - $1,845,960 Click Here for Graphic

Contracting for Food Service

Up to the 1993/1994 school year, School District
47 managed and operated its own cafeteria
system. A wonderful lady, Pearl Penoyer, was
the cafeteria manager of Coventry Elementary School and took on the additional responsibilities of menu preparation and food ordering for the whole district. As the District began to grow in both student population and number of schools, it became apparent that effectively and efficiently managing a cafeteria program was outside the area of the District’s expertise. Requirements for districts to serve a nutritional lunch were changing. Demands were growing for more food choices other than those that came with the typical
Type A lunch. As a result, District 47 elected to seek competitive bids from food service companies to manage, prepare, and serve lunches to our students. Arbor Management Company was the lowest responsible bidder and has remained our provider for 15 years having been the lowest bidder in two follow up bidding processes. This spring the District is once again bidding its cafeteria services.
The Invitation for Bid and Contract Process for the
National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is monitored by a stringent set of guidelines. The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) monitors the process along the way to ensure that districts are meeting NSLP guidelines and are getting a respectable vendor capable of providing
quality service. The guidelines are as follows:
1. ISBE reviews the Invitation for Bid and Contract
documents to ensure regulatory compliance.

2. School Districts must directly provide the
Invitation for Bid and Contract Documents to a
minimum of 4 potential bidders.

3. The School District must meet all public
notice requirements as it relates to the Open
Bidding Law.

4. Before any addendums are added to the contract
they must be approved by the ISBE.

5. Only sealed bids are accepted by the school
district and must include specific documentation.

6. On the bid opening date, the bids must be publicly
opened and read aloud.

7. All bids must be evaluated by the school districts
using specific criteria established by the ISBE
and recorded on a Bid Criteria Analysis Sheet.

8. The School District must submit the bid results
to the ISBE for their review and approval prior to
awarding the contract.

9. The School District must award the contract at an official school board meeting.

10. The School District must submit the official
contract with board action to the ISBE.

The ability of school districts to contract cafeteria
services is not taken lightly. Not only is the selection
process closely monitored but district programs are also audited every 5 years to ensure that menus are meeting nutrition standards, students are properly approved for free and reduced lunches, and that the cafeteria programs meeting Federal and State guidelines for sanitation, food preparation, and food service.

The guidelines are as follows:

1. ISBE reviews the Invitation for Bid and Contract documents to ensure regulatory compliance.

2. School Districts must directly provide the
Invitation for Bid and Contract Documents to a
minimum of 4 potential bidders.

3. The School District must meet all public
notice requirements as it relates to the Open
Bidding Law.

4. Before any addendums are added to the contract they must be approved by the ISBE.

5. Only sealed bids are accepted by the school
district and must include specific documentation.

6. On the bid opening date, the bids must be publicly opened and read aloud.

7. All bids must be evaluated by the school districts using specific criteria established by the ISBE and recorded on a Bid Criteria Analysis Sheet.

8. The School District must submit the bid results to the ISBE for their review and approval prior to awarding the contract.

9. The School District must award the contract at an official school board meeting.

10. The School District must submit the official
contract with board action to the ISBE.

The ability of school districts to contract cafeteria services is not taken lightly. Not only is the selection process closely monitored but district programs are also audited every 5 years to ensure that menus are meeting nutrition standards, students are properly approved for free and reduced lunches, and that the cafeteria program is meeting Federal and State guidelines for sanitation, food preparation, and food service.