Healthier meals a goal for county's schools
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on October 6, 2014 1:46 PM
Barbara Ward's job as child nutrition director for Wayne County Public Schools is about more than ensuring students get well-balanced meals.
It also includes balancing a budget, even one that contains free and reduced meal plans. That job is made harder by a lack of response from parents whose children qualify for the programs.
"We have a hard time getting applications from (parents) and that's a problem," she said.
The district accepts applications throughout the year but the big push for them is at the beginning of the school term. It can be challenging when the forms are not returnedm Ms. Ward said.
"Children are allowed to eat on last year's status for the first 30 days of the school year. The cut-off date is Oct. 6; they can eat at last year's status. But if they have not turned in the application by Oct. 6, on Oct. 7 they will have to start paying full price.
"We're not in the business of turning away kids, but we do need payment," she said.
Even those families qualified for free or reduced meals last year are required to submit an application for this school year, Ms. Ward said. And anyone who has not been notified as approved is asked to contact the school system immediately. That applies to every student in the family, she added.
"They need to call us and verify that all their children are qualified," she said.
The applications are especially important to the child nutrition department, which relies on payment from some source -- be it the family or supplemental funding from the state or federal government.
"We have just completed the bulk of processing applications. This year it's a little less because we have 12 schools that don't need applications," she said.
The schools -- Brogden Middle, Brogden Primary, Carver Elementary, Carver Heights Elementary, Dillard Middle, Eastern Wayne Elementary, Fremont, Goldsboro High School, School Street Elementary, Spring Creek Elementary, North Drive Elementary and Wayne Academy -- qualified to participate in the Community Eligibility Provision, a national program that provides free meals to students in predominantly low-income areas.
By PHYLLIS MOORE
pmoore@newsargus,com
There are new rules for school meals -- emphasizing healthy choices for the district's students.
And Wayne County Public Schools child nutrition director Barbara Ward says that involves continuous changes to the menu.
In addition to introducing more whole-grain items, areas like sodium, saturated fats and calories are also monitored, Ms. Ward said.
"We have got new requirements for breakfast this year, that we're required to offer at least one cup of fruit every day. How we handle getting that particular requirement, we offer one-half cup of fruit, fresh or canned, and we offer a four-ounce carton of juice," she said.
"As far as a typical breakfast, for example, we offer a sausage breakfast pizza, they'd have one half cup fruit, four ounces of juice, an eight-ounce carton of milk. The student must take at least three items on the list but they can take all."
At lunch, they can take six items, including choice of two entrees and students are offered two vegetables and choice of one fruit for grades K-8, two for those in grades 9-12.
New items introduced this year to the breakfast menu include an egg and cheese biscuit and sausage, egg and cheese pocket. The most popular items among students are a breakfast sausage pizza and sausage biscuits.
Best-liked items at lunch include beef nachos, chicken nuggets, chicken filet sandwiches and pizza, Ms. Ward said.
"For this year, a new item is tangerine chicken. It comes with an eggroll," she said. "We have always offered hot dogs, turkey hot dogs. This year we have Bright Leaf hot dogs, the red hot dogs, which in Wayne County is a big deal."
To prevent waste, the cafeterias "batch cook," Ms. Ward said, in an effort to prepare only what is needed for that day. Managers keep a production record to help in the planning.
Another challenge her department deals with are food allergies, particularly peanuts.
"We used to offer a peanut butter sandwich (on the menu)," Ms. Ward said. "More kids had extreme allergies with peanuts -- some have a problem even if someone breathes on them who has eaten peanuts or touched a handle before them."
That does not mean that no one can bring a peanut butter sandwich from home, although that policy is dictated by principals at individual schools.
"I haven't removed anything else from the menu," she said, noting that other allergies have been reported, including a newer one of late, cinnamon. "We put on that child's account screen so that's a red flag for the cashier."
Parents play a big part in the health of their children, and are asked to help in sending out the right message.
"We want parents to encourage their children to take the fruits and vegetables. Educate your child. Tell them the importance of eating fruits and vegetables," she said.