In an effort to take a stance on what some students believe to be substandard food offerings in the Westby Area School District students in Westby Middle School began boycotting the noon lunch program last week. Students in 7th and 8th grade organized a heavy following and began bringing sack lunches to school versus utilizing the in-house hot school lunch program. The boycotting action left the food service department with large quantities of prepared food, which had to be disposed of and created a hardship for food service employees and the department’s financial budget.

As the boycott progressed the trickle-down effect of the action was evident when only 45, middle school students ate hot lunch on Monday, April 7. The middle school houses 320 students, with 75 percent of middle school students normally utilizing the school’s hot lunch program. By Monday the fallout of the middle school boycott also began to filter into the high school level where 40 less students participated in the school lunch program at noon. School administration worked to offset the negative impact of the boycott and to find a solution which would satisfy both the student body and the food service program.

On Monday April 7, the administration held a special meeting in the middle school cafeteria inviting all middle school parents and students to discuss issues surrounding the boycott and to educate parents and students about the food service program offered at Westby. Over 100 people attended the event.

The Westby Times was not allowed to attend the invitation only meeting in order to protect the privacy of minor students and employees which may have been voiced during the Monday night meeting.

District Administrator Michael Murphy and District Food Service Supervisor Marilyn Volden both provided the newspaper with information prior to the meeting regarding the food service program.

According to Murphy the students, staff, parents and public need an overall education on just how the food service program operates and the stringent rules and regulations the program must adhere to under government authority-especially in a school district, like Westby, which relies on government subsidies to survive.

Murphy stated that the Westby Area School District regards food safety as extremely important when considering meals for the students. Having a high number of participants makes the program stronger, but participation in the food service program is entirely optional.

Volden provided the following information.

Food service budget

The Westby Area School District operates meal programs under the national school lunch and breakfast programs. The revenue to support these programs is generated from participant charges and from state and federal reimbursement for school meals served. The food service department operates independently with all revenues and expenditures of the program charged to the food service budget. When expenses of the food service program exceed the revenue of the program, money from the district general fund must be transferred at the end of each school year to balance the budget.

The food service program is expected to operate a self-supporting program in order to limit the transfer of funds that could otherwise be used to support other district educational programs. If students, staff and parents want a program different than what is currently provided, the food service program would greatly appreciate ideas and funding solutions. “Comments of wanting higher quality food, larger serving sizes, more choices and less charge for the meal is not realistic. The current expense of each lunch for food, labor, supplies, chemicals and other related expenses is higher than what revenue is available through student charges and reimbursement,” Volden said.

Quality of food

USDA Commodities make up approximately 15-20% of the food served in the Westby Area School District. These commodities are utilized to maximize the dollars available and ordered based on the popularity of the food. It is important to know that the processed and precooked commodities offered are the products that school districts have requested in order to control labor costs, address food safety issues, meet nutritional requirements of the school lunch program and are the foods that students prefer, like chicken nuggets. The balance of the food is purchased through competitive price quotations.

The school district currently has a prime vendor agreement in place with Reinhart Food Service in La Crosse, Marigold Foods, which provides Kemps milk and Sara Lee Bakery for the production of bread, rolls and buns. Many of the products we serve are the same products available for purchase through your local grocery store. All food considered for use is evaluated for nutritional quality as well as price. Many choices are available each day to offer students the opportunity to select foods that they prefer.

Along with daily hot entree, turkey breast and turkey-ham sandwiches, hot sandwiches, peanut butter uncrustable sandwiches, pizza slices, non-meat protein combos and homemade soup is available. Students are also offered a salad bar where they may add fresh veggies and/or fruit with every lunch. The milk choices are unflavored 1%, skim and chocolate skim.

“The reality is that in order to operate a self-supporting food service program under the current pricing and reimbursement rates, unlimited funds are not available and there is a limit to what foods can be offered,” Volden said.

Food safety and security

Westby Area School District has developed a detailed food safety plan that monitors all food service department items brought into the schools. The plan includes limiting access to kitchens and food storage areas to authorized personnel only, the monitoring of freezer and cooler temperatures, the recording and monitoring food temperatures during delivery, storage, cooking, holding and cooling, as well as cleaning and sanitizing procedures of equipment, utensils and the kitchen. Detailed records are kept daily and available at any time for review.

“School district kitchens are regulated by the Department of Health and Family Services and subject to two unannounced inspections during the school year. Inspection reports are posted in each kitchen for review,” Volden said.

Food service employees are required to wear hair restraints (hair nets), wear minimal jewelry and clean clothing. They must have trimmed fingernails and no artificial nails are allowed while on duty in the food service department. According to Volden these requirements pertain to the food service department employees at all branches in the district, but they do not apply to students and staff who have access to food during meal times making it possible for objects such as hair, broken fingernails, jewelry, and other items to fall into the food from students and non-food service staff during the self-serve process.

“Students have also been observed taking food from one serving line, and even the kitchen area, and then returning food items they do not eat for other students to take,” Volden said adding that such practices are unacceptable and need careful monitoring to control.

Meal costs and nutrition

The Westby Area School District is heavily subsidized through the national and state food programs, but the district still must bare labor costs to provide the program. At the middle school level a noon meal costs students $2, but it costs the district $2.50 to produce. According to government guidelines a complete National School Lunch program meal must include one serving of meat, two servings of vegetables/fruit, one or more servings of bread, and one serving of milk. Students must chose three of the five lunch items offered in order for the meal to qualify for the $2 cost and avoid a-la-carte pricing for individual items selected.

“We are willing to listen to ideas of parents and students about how to make improvements and whether there is a willingness to pay more to get more,” Murphy said.

The school district recently implemented a process of documenting all registered concerns surrounding the food service program and the district will be forming a committee of volunteer parents and staff to work with students and the food service department to overcome issues, which led to the boycott.

After Monday night’s meeting, middle school 7th-grader, Philip Eggen, said the meeting seemed productive and he was glad parents and students got to have a say.

“I hope something good comes out of this. We wanted to see what parents thought about how we handled the situation and we wanted them to have their say. I’m going to continue to boycott and bring my own lunch until I see change, but at least I’m hopeful now that things will improve,” Philip Eggen said.

School board member David Eggen (Philip’s grandfather) said after the meeting that he felt encouraged that our young people could attract this big of a crowd of interested parents and that he believes the outcome will provide an opportunity for participants to work together toward a solution which works for everyone.

School board president Mike Sebion on the other hand would like to have heard more direct comments from the students on actual complaints.

“I expected more kids to discuss actual problems. I didn’t hear that,” Sebion said.

As an adult listening in Sebion felt the nutrition end of the meeting opened his eyes along with visualizing firsthand the number of choices students are provided with on a daily basis.

“I think it’s common sense to look at reducing the number of choices. It’s less to keep track of and it would allow cooks to keep the food warm longer between class servings,” Sebion said.

In Murphy’s prior comments he noted that he does not know of any food service in the state of Wisconsin that cannot make some improvements. But the way toward improving things is through working together.

According to Volden, who was unable to attend the meeting due to a prior commitment, the comments and accusations that have been made about the food service program do not accurately reflect the meal programs in the Westby Area School District. If parents would like to have lunch at the school call 608-634-0200 to set up a day and time.