nutrition services feasibility study - boulder valley school district

Oakland, CA 94609
Beth Collins 231-633-0958 [email protected] 2013 E. Front Street
Traverse City, MI 49686
Table of Contents
The Plan Years Two and Three-17
ConclusionΑ
List of Documents on File at Business Services Office44
3 BVSD Nutrition Services Feasibility Study Lunch Lessons LLC - October 2008
Table of Figures
Figure 3Current Organizational Structure..7
Figure 4Proposed Organizational Structure9
Figure 5Food Cost C;.....10
Figure 6Current MLPH Model11
Figure 7Proposed MLPH Model11
Figure 9Examples BVSD Offerings13
Figure 11Scratch Elementary Meal, MI13
Figure 12Recipe for Success, Staff Training15
Figure 1 Garden at Bear Creek Elementary
Introduction
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When Alice Waters, of Chez Panisse fame, ; ; W ; HW IW W SWWS I W; ; W ; W SW a ; HW
Why did BVSD decide to take a look at its Nutrition Services practices at this particular point in time?
School districts are at a confluence in our nation SWH;W ;H W ;W a children W; ;S the districts role as the incubator for change. CSW health or lack thereof is deemed a hot topic
along with their math and reading skills. It is no longer assumed that our children will live long, healthy
and productive lives. School nutrition is now seen as an avenue of opportunity to push back the wave of
obesity, type 2 Diabetes and high blood pressure that threaten our future communities. Schools are
also the location of a key social justice pivot point where those with the fewest resources are most
reliant on the institutional system many of us with more resources take for granted.
The quest to offer an equitable education includes another basic need of human civilization food. In
W BSW I W W a W ;I W aIWS ; W; ; ; ; HWSWS W W I;aWW; W H W WI a ;S W; ;W WIW H W WII a the lunchroom; those with more monW W IW ;S ; aI H;Sing hat belies the better
intention of Nutrition Services.
Schools are where our children spend two thirds of their day. They learn many things and create and
practice many habits. The habit of grabbing and going versus food, flavors and dining is a practice BVSD
is reexamining. Food touches every one of us and is often the single common experience that can bring
people together at a table not to share a bag of Hot Cheetos and a Gatorade, but real whole foods -
food with a place, a face and traditions. This is a goal that is not beyond the reach of the Boulder Valley
School District.
Figure 2 Harvest Bar at Creeekside Elementary
The Plan - Year One, Departmental Reorganization
Step One Wellness Policy Mission, Vision, Commitment, Implementation Critical to the success of any project, the parameters of the vision act as a guide to the daily practices. In
2006, like all districts receiving federal funds, Boulder put in place a wellness policy. The policy in
Boulder is well intentioned, but does not have enough specifics to really define how practices in the
district will change, respond, or evaluate progress toward the goals laid out in the policy. 1
As a first step prior to changes the district decides to make as a result of this study, revisiting all policies
related to wellness and food is imperative. Defining the broad brushstrokes of current policy with
clearer finite goals as they relate to nutrition, instruction and physical activity will assist and inspire
change.2 Coming together as a community to define a more unified vision will help launch the education
needed to garner support not only for the policy, but for the practices needed to enact it.
Step Two Organizational Chart Redefining Departmental Structure as a Path to Change Current Organization
A ; SI a Β SW IW Α I;W ; W ;W W;I ;W; BSW NSD has carried an organizational structure (fig 3) utilizing a site based management model overseen
from the district main office. Direct supervision of the 22 production site managers and the NSD staff of
150 is limited as the office based team of five, including one year round employee, are busy managing a
$6 million dollar fund.
Opportunities for growth in participation, improvement in the ingredients, quality of preparation and
service is extremely limited with a departmental structure that lacks enough support at the top as well
as enough managerial tools and skill sets to build momentum in a department which touches every child
in the district.
Healthy Food Choices http://bvsd.org/policies/policies/EFA-R.pdf
and on file at Business Services Office
Current Organizational Structure
Proposed Organization
Within the proposed organizational structure (fig 4) the key elements that will create enough support
and accountability to enact growth are:
Year Round Staff
Increasing year round administrative team members to seven; including the director, assistant
director, executive chef, procurement manager, procurement assistant and two office staff will
create a seamless department capable of planning for and capitalizing on future growth in meal
participation and year round services.
Job Descriptions and Categories of Responsibility
I W; SW;W; IW WIW; W W WWSWS W;W W SW;W T W SW ; ameless/faceless organizational plan which asks that the
district view its goals through the lens of system implementation first and then consider the skill
sets it has at hand to populate this view.
Procurement
In looking toward a central kitchen model bringing procurement, receiving, inventory
management and transportation under the oversight of the NSD with the appropriate skill sets is
the most efficient way to maintain accountability and transparency within the system. The
current system which carries a combination of independent ordering overlaid with some system
wide ordering, inherently has many opportunities for loss. Implementing true perpetual
CFO
NS
Director
W areho useAccoun ting
inventory will bring accountability and cost controls to the department that are essential as it
moves to a more complex model of food service. Procurement in a model emphasizing
regionally based foods requires building many new relationships and creative distribution
models to optimize the creation of a true local procurement system.
Field Supervision
The current model has supervisors covering so many office based duties that their field
supervision in some cases becomes secondary. Supervisors subbing on sites have been
commonplace until this year. Concurrently, the production/satellite sites are also at a loss to
combine their on-site management with oversight of their satellite kitchens.
In the regional and central kitchen model where the type and style of service will change so
dramatically field supervision is the key to maintaining consistency of product and services
through a time of change. During the regional kitchen phase the field supervisors will be housed
out in the district and be able to respond to issues both in the kitchens and to the school needs
while maintaining a direct link of communication with the main office.
Reporting Structure and Accounting Link
This model requires the NS Director to have a direct report to the CFO and a communication link
with the Superintendent. The far reaching impact of this department and the potential
opportunity it has creating equitable nutrition services district wide requires a clear unfettered
line of communication.
The Accounting Department has been assisting the NSD to understand their budget model. The
study team recommends this valuable accounting specific position not be moved directly into
the NSD but remain as a liaison position housed in the Business Services Department with a
direct report to the NS Director and the CFO.
Proposed Organizational Structure
Operational Cost Support Expenses and Revenues
In program change of this scale operational support is critical to building the system needed to
create a sustainable model which will meet the goals of the district. At current levels district
wide participation in the school meal program is at 26%. To change this paradigm of mediocre
participation and poor quality meals the percentages in the budget will swing over a 3 to 4 year
period until the finalized system is up and running for at least a year. Critical to sustainable
change is staff training. The budget will carry a higher percentage annually for training in the
first three years. Exploring the cost of school meals in Boulder Valley is important because
though BVSD raised meal prices for 2008-2009 they have not raised the quality of the actual
ingredients.
3 Proposed 09-10 Budget with Comparison - Electronic Attachment to Report
Communication LinkCFO
Payro ll
In the implementation of a meal program based on whole foods the weight of responsibility
shifts from offering as many items as the mini-mart at the Middle or High Schools can handle
to simply preparing and offering real, delicious food. In implementation of program change
food cost per school meal will rise, and food cost and variety of a la carte items will decrease
(fig 5).
Currently food cost of school meals as a percentage of revenue is approximately 38% while food
cost for the a la carte items is 64%. The average cost of food for a school meal in BVSD is $1.00.
In the proposed model, food cost per meal will be based on $1.40. Spending the least amount
possible on the ingredients is not the goal. Creating meals that look and taste appetizing and
shifting away from the perspective that a la carte is both profitable and necessary is the
direction Boulder needs to head CW; W WH;HW W; ;W W ;W a meal revenue and with focus and attention that will continue to increase.
The net gain in a la carte is too low to justify the many costs of it in terms of labor and
procurement systems. More importantly this focus of salesmanship as a primary component to
the school day simply is not compatible in an educational environment. The presumption is that
a la I;W Ha laIW W HSW H ; a;WS S ; IW a ; W ;S W costs are now to the culture of the children we are educating in this environment.
Figure 5 Food Cost as Compared to Percentage of Meal Revenue
Standards of Evaluation Meals per Labor Hour
In the current model the formula for Meals per Labor Hour (MLPH) has contributed to the assumption
that a la I;W IW; WWW H W W W; (fig 6). This assumption depends upon the
number of students served; WW ; W; W;W W IW a; a a la carte is $2.50.
At the middle and high school level where a la carte is a predominant theme $2.50 reflects more of a
snack purchase than a meal. In recurrent observations students routinely spent in excess of $5 on a
variety of junk food. Unfortunately the potential to create a reimbursable meal within the parameters
of the a la carte choices exists, but the emphasis is not on students obtaining a ba lanced nutritious and
high quality meal, it is on spending money. Due to the costs of the a la carte program, the revenue
simply does not justify the costs. In examining the actual volume of students moving through the
W W;WS ; ; W; W;W a W than $3.50 is purchased by 42% of the students
purchasing a la carte with an average sale being closer to $5.00.
Using meals per labor hour as way to evaluate performance is a tricky proposition even more so because
the district has lumped the satellite site sales with the production sites sales without really taking into
account that the primary contribution of the production site to the satellite has been storage, as so little
cooking actually happens in advance of a meal. In the a la carte model the costs are attributed more to
managing the inventory than to cooking. When examining the performance of the satellite sites alone,
they are some of the most productive sites in the district, usually working with the least skilled staff,
fewest hours and poorest facilities (fig 7, 8).
Figure 6 Current MPLH Model Labor and Revenue allocated to Production Only, meal equivalent value; $2.50
Figure 7 Proposed MPLH Model Labor and Revenue evaluated independently, meal equivalent value $4.00 HS, $1.50 Elem
Figure 8 Tight Quarters at Whittier Elementary Satellite Site
Accountability and Transparency Through Seamless Reporting
Use of the variety of software available to the NSD is critical to efficiency in this multi unit meal
program. Several key components will need to be implemented to maximize efficiency and
transparency in reporting as follows:
1. Full implementation of VBOSS as the primary inventory based food service management tool for
all facets of NSD program.
2. L;W a VBO““ S;; L; ; W WS IW W I; a WW a order to receiving. Accounting and IT have agreed this is a possible solution and change to a
planned linkage earlier in the flow of records which would not have allowed NSD to use VBOSS
to its full potential.
3. Further exploration of long term cost effectiveness of DBS Point of Sale program as the primary
tool for on-site sales and records for State and Federal review. Use of VBOSS for POS would
expand the transparency of the movement of purchased and produced goods from warehouse
to central kitchen to student, but further review is needed.
4. Implementation of a fully cashless system at all grade levels.
The continued implementation of POS systems throughout federally funded school districts is a
direct response to the inequity of federally funded free and reduced meal recipients being
SWaWS W I C ;IIW ; W;;W aWW W; W T Boulder has moved to a blended line as well as a POS style service, its willingness to continue to
accept cash, particularly at Middle and High School operations, highlights and enlarges the still
obvious inequity of dining in the Boulder Valley School District. In addition, the labor and
potential loss in the burden of managing a cash operation can be immediately eliminated by
only accepting money for account funding and even then it does not have to happen during
meals which slows down the line.
5. Implementation of electronic time clocks linked directly to Lawson which will eliminate the
paper trails currently in use and create a more efficient interface with which to manage large
hourly staff in the department, second only to transportation as far as size in the district.
6. Tracking of reimbursable meal costs as a separate category from a la carte meal costs.
Step Four Food and Menu
Figure 9 Examples of A la Carte, a School Meal, and Menu Meal Components in Boulder Valley
Figure 10 Scratch Middle School Lunch, California Figure 11 Scratch Elementary Lunch, Michigan
A ; W a S W S ;W HWW WWS a BV“D I, but the process
that led BVSD to the model it has now primarily industrially grown and processed foods reflects the
trends of the last 25 years; a reduction of investment in personnel, training and ingredients (fig 9).
To change this paradigm BVSD as a community will have to fully support and be passionate about the
opportunity and future of real food (fig 10, 11), otherwise the investment in change is lost before it has
begun.
In year one the focus in food change will be to improve the ingredients in the reimbursable meal
program and simplify and improve the ingredient content of a la carte foods offered for sale. Goals for
ingredient content must be more innovative than the simple 35/10/35 formula that the USDA offers
school districts as their barWW W;;W W ;W ;I aS “;I I ; ; BSW WWS W; and the guidelines on what constitutes food will change from
ingredient listings with W W I; SWa WW aS W H ight or packaged foods
with ingredients we can easily identify.
Use of commodity entitlement funds are a key component of the cost structure in school meals; though
a necessary evi would be the way our study team would describe the commodity entitlement
program. Until federal policy shifts on the use and content of commodity entitlement foods we
WIWS aI W W; S;; W W Idity list, avoiding processing, and
choosing brown box and raw items.
Improvement and implementation of sa lad bars in all elementary and middle schools will be the most
direct and expedient improvement we can make to the overall meal program in year one. Facility
improvement and training is critical to this process and shifts will be phased in as the system can
support it.
Remove flavored milk from the district. Consumption of milk in Boulder is exceptionally high with
annual units sold in excess of 1.2 million considering the reimbursable meal counts of breakfast and
lunch combined total 1.32 million meals. Flavored milk is driving this volume as its purchase out-
numbers plain milk 4 to 1. Sugar is a powerful draw and the average flavored milk packs an additional
14-16 grams of sugar per serving over plain milk. This amounts to 5 to 6 pounds of sugar over the
course of the school year if consumed daily. Sugar is the one key ingredient the USDA does not limit in
food product compositions served in American schools. Sugared milk simply does not have a place
within innovative program change.
Shifting from individually packaged milk to bulk dispensed milk is both efficient and improves the milk
experience as the milk is colder and tastes better. The cost savings in bulk dispensing also increases the
possibility of the district being able to afford organic milk.
Step Five Facilities Improvements Boulder is fortunate to have kitchens. Unfortunately, cooking from scratch at all sites is not a practical
or affordable solution. Though BVSD has continued to spec and build kitchens for cooking, the district
shift to prepackaged food drives those investments to a mute point. Very little real food is actually
handled in the district, and though it would be fantastic to staff the kitchens with enough people and
skills sets to prepare consiste W; aS ; W ; ;II; fiscally responsible vision.
In large scale scratch cooking with the goal to provide each child with the same experience, leveraging
facilities improvements and personnel into fewer sites is a reasonablW IW I BV“D I;W given the current participation and projection that acceptance to real food will take some time, cooking
at four regional sites will be possible until a central kitchen facility can be built.
To maintain quality, food will no longer be transported hot which though it happens rarely in Boulder
due to the reliance on boxed foods, it creates an opportunity for degradation of the food quality (over
cooked) and unsafe transport temperatures. A cook and chill bulk operation paired with some cooking
at sites that have enough staff (for example steaming broccoli for service instead of cooking, chilling and
reheating broccoli) is a proven method for successful whole foods service where most of the meal is
prepared or prepped at a central site and finished at the satellite as well as the satellite being
responsible for preparation of and maintenance of sa lad bars.
In BVSD that means that some sites are over equipped as satellites and some are underequipped. For
the most part the underequipped sites fall in the category of the current satellite kitchens.4 In addition,
4 Site Improvement Overview - Electronic Attachment to Report
sites that currently have antique equipment sitting under hoods that could be replaced with equipment
like steamers which will enhance the quality of meals are also noted.
In year one the critical needs sites will be a priority as well as retro fitting the 4 identified regional
kitchens; Louisville Middle School, Casey Middle School (when available), Monarch High School and
Fairview High School. Changes would be made with an eye toward equipment that could be moved to
the central kitchen when it is built. Primary needs are refrigeration, dry storage and rapid chilling
equipment.
The Plan - Years Two and Three Regional to Central
Marketing and Outreach
The list of challenges presented in year one are great and represent the core of this system change.
When considering scratch cooked, locally and regionally sourced meals on the scale of a district like
Boulder Valley; the efficiency of the system model is critical to enabling a uniform and consistent meal
experience district wide well prepared, excellent ingredients building delicious meal choices. In
essence, though cooking real food may seem like a gargantuan endeavor, the end result is much simpler
in concept than what Boulder Valley has been committed to for a very long time.
To maintain the momentum and support for this large scale shift it is imperative that the district actively
commit to Marketing and Outreach, which in the language of school food change is simply education.
The Wellness Policy work that will take place as the entry point for this project is the ongoing guide and
measure to successful change. Policy that is participated in district wide will inform how the lessons of
wellness that may penetrate curriculum will reinforce and support the activities in the dining rooms.
Integrating the educational and equity basis of this change work into the fabric of the district is critical
for the investment in this change to make any sense.
Food and Staff
As year two unfolds removal of a la carte and competitive foods will be mirrored by the beginning
implementation of scratch cooked meals. The stress of changing habits and implementing new
standards of practice means lots of training and lots of support for the teams working throughout the
district (fig 12).
While the elementary sites may be grappling more with the removal of chicken nuggets, the middle
schools and high school students will be facing a very different reality - W ;HWIW a W -;
Staff training focusing on communication and dining room service interface will be very important both
in the first year and continuing as change ramps up.
In this model what we remove is being replaced with something we know to be much better, even if
there is resistance. As the initial months can be extremely challenging for the NSD team, on the ground
School and Parental support is critical to successful transition.
Facilities and Equipment
In year two we will be continuing the task of updating the schools most in need so that their kitchens
and dining areas are both compatible with the model and not substandard when compared with sites
that have had more updates and attention.
The regional sites, not having been built as central kitchens, will be adjusted also and necessary fixes can
be addressed as they come up; but with a central kitchen in view investment in these sites should be
compatible with the larger model.
Plans and groundbreaking for a central kitchen early in year two will make it possible to move the
production operations in year three, but the heart of this proposal is to give Boulder Valley the time to
move at a pace that is compatible with the available resources and support. Because of the layout in the
district and the existing cold storage and warehouse system, a central kitchen site in close proximity to
receiving and storage is the most efficient long term solution for the district. All the training and
systems that are grown in year two can be transferred to the central kitchen concept in year three or
four so loss of efficiency or redundancy in the process is contained as much as possible.
School Support and Schedules
As every administrator knows school schedules are sacred. In most districts meal times are treated as a
necessary condition W ;W ;W H S HW W; a ISW SS WWS aS W;IW I BSW V;W W WW ; WIS; program where that -W WWSWS dream is
assumed since the high school students affected are not scheduled any time to eat at all.
At the elementary level this model should expect to add time for either more meal periods that are
incrementally longer or existing period schedules with more time depending on the volume capacity of
the dining rooms. Service lines in almost every elementary school are single lines and if the popularity
of a fresher meal program expands, as is hoped, more lunch periods that allow for staggering of entry
into the dining room, rather than en-mass entrance with a third or half the school population at a time is
key. We are aware that there are seating issues now, even with very low participation in school meals.
At middle schools with more complex scheduling and students not necessarily moving around their days
in grade blocks, more creative stagger schedules may be needed depending on participation levels.
At the high schools which possess open campuses the typical routine is not to schedule many meal
periods at all, opting for a few blocks of time, assuming that not many students will actually attend.
High School participation will have to be monitored and scheduling adjusted as needed.
The bottom line is that scheduling in a food service model that is undergoing a lot of change needs to be
a part of communication between principals and the NSD office. In investing in program change the
district is also investing in culture change, and vibrant and dynamic relationships between NSD and the
individual school sites will benefit the district as a whole.
Financial Sustainability and Models for Change
If Boulder Valley steps into this change model national attention will be part of the picture and with that
attention the W a W SI I; ;aaS S HW ; I; I a discussion. To make the change sustainable will take time to allow for all the facets of the system to be
implemented and mature, but throughout this process the NSD will have to continue to bring new
resources to the table.
The district is currently not offering any consistent service at the breakfast level, despite the fact it has
many employees on site at a majority of schools during the hours needed. Understanding the needs and
potential in after school snack programs, summer feeding programs and potential-offsite revenue
through catering are all ways to optimize the investment in the food service structure that is available.
Yes, the NSD needs year round staff to efficiently maintain and grow and that year round work can be
justified as the NSD continues to build resources.
Conclusion
Boulder Valley should be commended for even considering making such a huge culture shift and as the
study team we know that Nutrition Services does want to be change-makers, but we also know they
cannot do it alone. They need the support of the Valley when considering the potential of change. We
need to remember that food service workers in schools interact with more of the student body than all
other employees in a school district. Lunchrooms can and should be part of the recipe for creating
school environments that nurture children into adults equipped to live long and productive lives and
Boulder has taken a big leap toward entering that groundbreaking arena.
Appendix
List of Items on File at Business Services Offices44
Progress Report One
May 2008
NUTRITION SERVICES OFFICE 28
STUDY NEXT STEPS 31
Introduction and Report Assumptions
The focus of the first visit to Boulder by the study team was site visits. Over two weeks, three of us;
Beth Collins, Coleen Donnelly and Marguerite Lauro, visited 40 of the 46 sites covered in the study. I use
W W W ; WS I ; several sites house both a middle school and an elementary
I NWSW;S I;W ; SSW I ;S I TW ; a W W ; inventory the physical plants of the kitchens and dining rooms and, when possible, to meet the manager
and staff of the site, observe work habits and meal service. The team used the same set of questions to
guide their visits, took photographs and logged the equipment IDs into spreadsheets. As the visits
progressed the team shared their observations daily, identifying patterns of practice. Those patterns
; aI; W a W II WW S; ; ;W a W S
It should be noted at this point that the time frame of site visits on this trip was the last two weeks of
school and we were aware that getting ready to shut down for the summer did affect some of what we
saw. Because of closing we did not see typical inventory capacity of many sites, meaning that some sites
might look like they have a lot more available space than they really would if they were running
normally. Menus were also affected by the end of the year as sites tried to run down overstocks of
items not on the menu. In some cases that meant they were not serving the published menu at all. The
other poi ; WaWI W a W; ;SW ; H ; ; WWW ;W SW ;S a;S W HW;
We will be returning when the schools are open again in the fall and will visit the remaining sites as well
as spot visit sites where we did not talk to anyone and in some cases, given what we saw previously, we
feel it would be important to see them in service at full production level. Schools where renovations
were taking place this summer may be bringing a new look and organization or even in some cases a
new location to the site, so we will also re-visit any construction completions.
This report is organized in sections relating to summarizing the types of sites the district has, namely;
production sites where they prepare their own food as well as order, stock and prepare foods that are
WS ;WW ; W SI I; I; TW W I;W ; W WaW ; sites. Solo sites are self contained and order, stock and prepare food only for their own population and
occasionally may prepare food for a Head Start contract. And finally, satellites, which are the recipient
partners of the production sites.
Aside from the purpose these categories serve within the department, it should be noted at the outset
that the district operates its schools from a site-based management perspective, meaning that school
principals have more influence over the individual operation of each site. This does affect nutrition
services in that they at times must satisfy both the direction of the individual school as well as following
the policy and procedure laid out by the department. This is particularly important as we move forward
W;;W BV“D I;;I a ;IIW I ;SS ; ;SS; ;yer in the evaluation that is difficult
S HWI;W W ;IW a ; ;I; I ;;WW ;S ; ;aaWI aS WIW is not always apparent when the site is visited.
WW WaW W; SIWS W aI WH;HW eals, as a la carte sales are more
reflective of foods that the schools do not cook or prepare themselves and the formula the department
W W;W ; W; a a la carte is an average sale of $2.50. Through our discovery it appears that
$2.50 would be a low estimate for many middle and high school customers and for elementary age
purchases $2.50 may be too high. Discovery data the study team wishes to examine, but have not yet
had access to; are descending dollar reports for each school site so we can interpret the volume of sales
in particular categories and compare that to sales records data from the Point of Sale computer system
(POS). The POS register set- WS W ; SW SW; W ;I; W SaaI evaluate what tW ;W;W ;W WaWI
Another factor affecting the content of this report is the amount of data we currently have. At the
current time we do not have complete detailed data on Nutrition Services (NS) staffing from the district
offices and although we can describe preliminary impressions about staffing, lack of, too much etc. until
we have a full disclosure of NS staffing assignments throughout the district, including detail of job splits;
meaning bus driver/dishwasher or delivery driver/server, FTEs in the NS department who work in other
departments, etc. we will not draw many conclusions about staffing. This report will briefly summarize
our time spent in the NS District office and outline the next steps in our discovery process for this study.
FACILITIES/SCHOOL SITES
Production Sites
There are 11 production sites in the district. They are evenly split between high schools and middle
schools with one elementary school also in the mix. The production sites appear to be chosen for their
location in that they are strategically located to be efficient locations from which to move food in a
particular area. To a lesser extent production sites might have been selected for size and equipment,
but clearly over time the newer schools have created an imba lance in scale, particularly reflected in
storage space both dry, freezer and refrigerated. For example, one of the largest and most well
equipped kitchens in the district, Monarch High School ships out an average of 228 reimbursable meals
to two sites, while Southern Hills, a much older and smaller site ships out over 400 meals to four sites.
One factor that is consistent among all the production sites except two, Angevine and Fireside, is that
their own reimbursable meal production is below 140 and some as low as 41 (Southern Hills) or 50
(Platt). A la carte volume among the various production sites is marked by high school sites having the
largest volume overall, middle school production sites a la carte numbers are lower, presumably
because there is more parental control at the middle school age level or in the case of Angevine the
population of the school is less advantaged and uses the free/reduced meal program. Since the fresh a
la I;W W W ; W ;S R ;S “H; ;W S W S; they are delivered, there is no
storage issue related to them. More significant is adequate storage for drinks, and bulky dry goods
items like chips or freezer space for the cookies, muffins etc.
Solo Sites
The solo sites also vary quite a bit as far as their equipment and space depending on age and location of
the site, but with the exception of a few sites where a high meal count is paired with inadequate
footprint and storage (Columbine and Emerald Elementary are good examples of this) the solo sites
would be characterized as adequately equipped small kitchens even by scratch cook standards. Many
solo sites possess ovens, mixers, walk-in coolers and freezers and adequate room to move around and
organize their service. On the East side the K-8 solo sites possess large footprints and lots of equipment
relative to the number of meals they actually produce. Eldorado and Monarch K-8s produce meals for
17 percent of their populations, while Aspen Creek produces meals for 37 percent of theirs.
Satellite Sites
Satellite sites fall into three categories; sites that may have been solo sites in the past and so have more
equipment or storage than their meal count would actually call for (Mesa, Bear Creek and Foothills are
good examples) or sites that simply lack footprint and facility to comfortably and in some cases safely
support meal service (University Hill, Pioneer, Louisville Middle and Whittier are good examples of that
category) and finally sites that fall somewhere in between the last two.
Satellite sites are characterized by limited staffing, meaning much shorter hours, though some staff split
their days between sites. The combination of lesser facilities and lack of staff time and what appears to
be less training on these sites is evident in what we found to be less organized and dirtier sites. There
appears to be more use of these kitchens by other groups, such as YMCA and afterschool programs
sometimes taking up as much as half the dry storage space and adding the heat of residential
refrigerators in the dry storage areas. We did not as a whole meet as many of the site managers at the
satellites because of their limited hours of operation, so many of the sites were visited after or before
hours.
Equipment
WW ;W BV“D W a W standpoint of cooking equipment, the district on the whole has
large numbers of ovens, stoves, deck ovens, steam kettles and mixers. Though the district houses all
this equipment, for the most part the menu does not require much actual cooking. There is a noticeable
favoring of baking equipment as compared to other standard items, for example large numbers of cake
pans and many schools with more than one standing mixer. Baking appears to be the last vestige of
regular scratch preparation to have been removed from the district menus. This was reflected in the
repeated lament by long time employees who used to bake bread, rolls, cakes and cookies from scratch.
We were told that the decision to remove scratch baking from the repertoire was initiated by the
retirement of 7 long time kitchen managers and the challenge of hiring and training appropriate
replacements. We have not analyzed the cost difference in labor and supplies of scratch baking of prior
years to the current budget, but when considering a total meal as served in the district today, the value
of a scratch baked roll, cookie or bun within the framework of a largely processed meal program does
carry some contradiction.
For the most part, items like convection ovens fell along numbers and types equating with production
kitchens having the most and satellites having the least - one single convection oven. There is also a
presence of very old deck ovens and stoves sprinkled throughout the district, even in kitchens that also
have newer equipment. In many cases, the deck ovens are no longer used though they do take up a
large footprint under the hoods.
Though cooking and baking equipment numbers may be high, by and large refrigeration space including
both walk-in freezer s and coolers varies much from site to site. Larger and/or newer schools fare
better in the ba lance of refrigeration space and dry storage than some of the smaller sites to the
volume of food they have to store and prepare, but some sites, even if they are satellites do not have
adequate dry storage or refrigeration for their operation. Concern with regard to this is food safety and
because of that we will address sanitation as a separate area.
We did obtain school specifications for build outs of kitchens at the elementary, middle and high school
levels, but the specifications are only general descriptions and are not tied to square footage,
population, meal count, menu type or service style. All three sets of specifications were exactly the
same with the only determining factor being whether the site was to be a preparation unit or a serving
unit and that the determination would be decided before design work begins. What is apparent when
looking at the equipment is that the district did cook food from scratch at one time and have continued
to build kitchens with the assumption that they would be cooking as opposed to reheating and selling
ready to eat a la I;W W EW ; IW W ;HW S ; W W W a WIW they are currently providing.
A detailed cumulative district kitchen equipment distribution spreadsheet will be provided with the final
study report materials in October.
Food buffet lines also vary throughout the district and because many of them are built-ins for the most
part they remain even in sites that need a different set up. Use of mobile three and four well steam
;HW I H S HW WS ; ; W ;W ;HW WSWS a S W; ; W units and there appears to be a general lack of understanding of proper use and cleaning of the units. In
sites where the existing built-in line is not sufficient or the layout of the space means the mobile table is
; W I WW ; ;S IW HW W-plated so the server
can hand the students their food more quickly or serve the last hot item more easily since the server
maybe working alone (very common in smaller sites).
The Food
The contradiction between the equipment and the actual food is distinct. The key ingredients of the
reimbursable meal entrees are processed items compiled of either frozen or canned goods. Essentially,
the necessary equipment for reheating and assembling most of the meals is minimal. As our discovery
IW W SI IWWt and vendor choices has not yet been completed, these
impressions are based only on what we saw during the site visits.
Regardless of how little cooking is actually happening; all meals are not created equal. There is a great
degree of difference in food handling from site to site so even food that is not actually prepared from
I;I ; ; ;W a WW HW ;SWS W ;S ;W; TW SaaWWIW can be largely attributed to skills or lack thereof among the nutrition services staff, both from a basic
food handling and organizational standpoint and the managerial abilities at a particular site. In addition,
the supervisory team at the district level is not staffed in great enough numbers to routinely address
consistency and competence at every site in addition to managing the overall basic departmental
WIWW V W ;W ;;W SW W H HW ;HWIW ;W ; ; IIWWS effort to maintain quality, efficiency and consistency from site to site.
This overall system may have been structured based on the site management model, but if that is true
the degradation of the overall skill set both at the hourly worker level and the site managerial level has
resulted in an uneven quality of service throughout the district. In addition, there is no budgeted
professional development for the nutrition services staff, so with the exception of sanitation training
which happens every five years, no system is in place to train, maintain, correct or improve performance
a W SW;W ;aa
The introduction of Harvest Bars in 2008 at the elementary level has broadened the access to fresh
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laS ; HW lacking. In following strict offer vs. serve guidelines the only limitation to choice is guidance
on portion size so students tend to choose more familiar foods and may avoid vegetable components
altogether. Regardless of that fact, the addition of the Harvest Bars is a key factor in improving meal
quality at the elementary level where most of the meals consumed are reimbursable meals.
A la Carte food choices are everywhere in the district, but again they vary from site to site. Equity of
food offerings (a la carte versus reimbursable) vary widely depending on where one visits and what
grade level. At the elementary level a la carte offerings could be as few as selling water, juice or soy
milk to a full array equivalent to the middle school level choices (Eldorado 3rd grade and above), but
overall the offerings at the elementary level are more consistent in that the primary choice is the
reimbursable meal. Again, site based management comes into play with regard to a la carte sales at the
elementary level ;S ES;S I;W WW ; SW;S a a ;IIW a WWW; WW ; ; school like Bear Creek the choices are much more restricted. What is actually more surprising is that a
la carte choices are offered at the elementary level at all, beyond the typical sale of milk or juice to cold
lunch kids.
At the middle and high school levels the students are inundated with the sight of countless choices. In
addition to the reimbursable meal, there are snacks, entrees, frozen treats, cookies, drinks and the
H JIW AW ; W IWS W I SH ; ; IW a W WH;HW meal (a fruit) or as an a la carte item sold in a larger size. The list of available lunch a la carte items that
site managers can stock tops 30 items ranging in sales price from 50 cents to $4.00. To comply with
Federal requirements of not separating snack or a la carte items from reimbursable meal distribution, in
many sites they have had to adapt a service line that was not designed to be compatible HWSWS W “;aa W W aWW S I W S SW “W a WW WIW W
adaptations have resulted in the reimbursable meal components being pre-plated and sitting for long
periods of time (unappetizing and potentially unsafe), sometimes not sitting on, under or in the proper
heating element .
Overwhelmingly at the middle and high school level the a la carte fare is dominant to the eye. Only at
sites where the population of free/reduced students is higher does the emphasis shift to the
reimbursable meal and the visual impact of a la carte lessens. Our impression of the a la carte impact
on the district food service was that with so many choices, often the choice or combination of choices
will be poor. From a staffing standpoint, some sites simply seemed overwhelmed with managing that
many choices. The middle and high school sites resemble 7-Elevens more than school cafeterias, except
the oversight of their control; from inventory, storage, sales and ordering is much looser. There appear
to be no checks in place to manage shrinkage. Items like drinks end up in the walk-in because that is
W WIW ;IW WW IW WW W aW aS W SSW ;S schools.
Future study research into the cost and sales of a la carte and their attendant staffing needs across the
district will be needed to discover how shifts can be successfully achieved. The culture of the district
population around having choice and access to these types of food will play greatly in the strategy the
district may want to employ in the future.
Dining Rooms
It should be noted from the outset that overwhelmingly when asking nutrition services staff about the
S W ;W ; W ;W S TW SIWI W W; a W service of the food to the consumption and atmosphere that food is intended for was definitive and
should be considered when discussing a future vision of nutrition services. It should also be noted that
the introduction of Harvest Bars does engage the staff in dining room activity, however the prevalence
of cashiers who are not working as directly with the food itself, limits what could be a very positive link
between the staff and the students directly around consuming fresh foods.
The good news is Boulder has some dining rooms, even very bright and cheery ones with windows and
space. The elementary schools in some cases are fairly challenged on seating space and across the
board when asking staff if they could feed more kids, if more kids were purchasing meals, the schedules
of the lunch periods come into question.
Adult supervision and interaction in the dining rooms vary and this appears to be driven in part by the
site based management, as far as how many or how often a lunch room may have an aide or whether
teachers assist their elementary age students through the line. For the most part teachers are not
purchasing meals and in the case they do, they usually eat in the teachers lounges. There are a few
exceptions; for example at Heatherwood teachers go through the line with the students and sit and eat
with them. Potential dining room based education that reflects having adults present who are vested in
healthy food choices and positive social interaction in the dining room is possible. We did observe aide-
student relationships in the dining room that I would describe as very positive (Pioneer Elementary) and
demonstrate an understanding of dining as a valuable, positive aS WSI;; W SW day.
Maintenance of the dining rooms is assigned to the custodial staff and in most sites we visited
custodians were present and active during service, handling compost programs at elementary schools
that have begun the Eco-Cycle Program and managing waste and recycling in middle and high school
dining rooms. Few dining rooms have access to water and the sales of water appear brisk. Only at
Centennial MS did we observe a water fountain designed for cups, but they do ;W I SS appear to be used.
Some custodians appear to have a vested interest in the students during lunch (Manuel at Uni Hill is a
good example and custodians at Creekside and Fireside are other examples), and help them get what
they need as well as assist nutrition services in moving trays, condiments and the like back to the
kitchen area. Other schools appear to have less cooperative relationships with custodians
and this may result in dirtier floors and just overall less cooperation.
WW W ;HW ;W IW;WS ;S ;WS W ;W ; WW ; W SS that they provided a container of sanitizer water and a rag. There appears to be no cleaning system or
series of steps that custodians universally follow on surface cleaning in the dining rooms and this is a
concern and will be noted under sanitation. This would also be a question when considering the floor
cleaning and cleaning of floor mats in the kitchens. There were kitchens where it was clear the mats
were never picked up, or washed. And the variety of mat washing techniques varied, so addressing
some uniform practice with regard facility cleaning is needed.
SANITATION AND STANDARDS OF PRACTICE
This area with regard to the entire district is a primary area of concern. Though most sites do have
IW a W SI HACCP H;;S A; CI; C P ;S “;S;S OW; Procedures Manual as mandated under the National School Lunch Program since 2006, there is great
inconsistency in practice throughout the district.
Basic food safety practices, common in food service even before the implementation of HACCP
programs are spotty. For example, practices such as wearing hair restraints, washing hands, proper use
of gloves, FIFO (first in, first out), product date labeling, and temperature logs were extremely
inconsistent and often non- existent. Another widely accepted method that monitors food safety, the
use of freezer and refrigeration temperature logs, is rare in the district. When asked, most staff said they
looked at the thermometers (often there were not internal thermometers in place for more accurate
monitoring) but did not record temps. At satellite sites there was less evidence of food safety practice
and by and large their refrigeration lacked internal thermometer devices. All staff is required to go
through STAR training, a sanitation training program offered through the Colorado Department of
Health and when asked most staff said they had attended training. But what is lacking is a thorough
systemic practice and oversight district wide of implementing required food safety practices, and
continued monitoring, support and training.
Food temperature logs though part of the records handled with regard to production of foods to be
transported and foods received are not regularly maintained at all sites. The SOP handbook is
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implemented. The site managW WWWIW ;S ;; ;W ;; WW ; W ; ; W;S ;IIW ;S WW ; W S SWIHW ; W ;;WS W W ; ;I; S all the basic required practices.
Notable as well with regard to sanitation is the role of linen in the department. Common to food service
is the practice of wearing hair restraints, aprons and the use of side towels, as well as hot pads by the
stoves. When asked if the district provided hair restraints the answer was no. Aprons, which we
observed on most employees throughout the district, are also not provided. And finally side towels
which were in most kitchens, but often hanging to dry in on boiler room pipes or piled up on the dividers
of a sink, had the most variety of responses. Towels were sometimes ordered from the warehouse,
sometimes acquired from custodial staff, brought in or purchased by the employee, sometimes sent to
the warehouse for washing, sometimes provided by the production site and sent back there to wash,
occa; ;WS W HW EI H aW W WW S SW W W cleaned was that the workers were taking them home. In some cases employees log in hours on their
time sheets for that service of taking the towels home to clean them, but not always.
T W;S SW ISW PaW; ;W;;IW W; ;S IW; W W WS SW BV“D Food Service Sanitation Training Check List. There was a variety of dress found throughout the sites.
NW; ;S IW; specific enough to ensure a safe and sanitary working environment. We saw
sleeveless shirts, shorts, CROCS (specifically listed as not acceptable), no aprons, capri shorts, and most
hair un-restrained, despite the fact the HACCP manual lists the need for ; IW; ; ;S BV“D ;WS ; W;
This inconsistency is tied to the lack of oversight by the department but starting clearly with a lack of
thorough training. From a sanitation and food handling perspective this is unacceptable. Regular linen
service whether in-house or contracted is a standard in the food service industry. A clean hat or a hair
net, a clean apron and the provision for clean side towels and hot pads is the minimum one would want
to observe in a food service environment, and in a situation where your average worker is not a
aW; ;WS aS WIW W HW SW WW H;I ;S ; W respect the need for closed toed shoes, sleeves, legs covered etc.
This is a primary area of concern because if the district has any desire to handle freshly prepared and
cooked foods it must staff adequately and train and retrain adequately to maintain safe operating
procedures. In this instance the lack of centralized management of food services and inadequate
training throughout the district would be tagged as the primary reason for this issue. The supervisory
team is aware that their staff lacks training but it appears that department is between a rock and a hard
place as there is no budgeted staff or time to accomplish adequate training. The fact that various
schools are passing Board of Health inspections means nothing, as it was clear from talking to long time
managers that the Board of Health inspections are brief and perfunctory. Colorado Board of Health is
aware that the district by Federal mandate must have a HACCP plan in place, but their own inspections
and standards are not requiring HACCP for every food service establishment they license so they would
not be inspecting to that level of detail, however the CRE reviews from the State should be looking
carefully at HACCP compliance.
Our basic response to this level of inadequacy with regard to food handling and sanitation practice is
that the district will have to take five steps back before they can take one step forward. Implementing a
standardized plan and adequately training all staff that have contact with food should be at the top of
the list for BVSD. This extends also to warehouse practice where we observed improper rotation, no
case dating and out of date product throughout. The fact that non-nutrition services staff are the first
response handlers of most of the food product in the district is a concern, and further that product is
being moved from the warehouse into sites often directly into the refrigeration units - by staff who are
not operating under nutrition services HACCP standards and do not answer to the Director of Nutrition
Services is an issue that must be addressed.
NUTRITION SERVICES OFFICE
The Team
As the focus of this trip was the site audits our time spent in the district office was minimal, but was
enough to follow the paper trail of recordkeeping and ordering back from the sites to those who are
either handling the orders, , managing the Point of Sale records, or writing
menus and production records, At the end of the first week of sites visits we met with
Leslie Stafford and the supervisory team. Ms. Stafford is district CFO and oversees the nutrition services
department under the new district reorganization. Present at that meeting was Sue Anderson, now
director, Deb McCormick, supervisor and Sara Acker, who has recently moved into a supervisory role in
the department from her previous position as site manager at Monarch High School. Sara will prove to
be a valuable member of the team as she represents real on the ground experience in the commercial
food industry outside of schools, as well as proving to be a solid manager and trainer within BVSD. Her
ability to troubleshoot, assess and train throughout the district will be a real asset.
It should be noted that as far as leadership of nutrition services, at the time the study team was engaged
the district did not have a nutrition services director. The prior director, , departed in April
and Sue Anderson, nutrition services supervisor, was playing double duty, managing her supervisor
duties as well as working as acting director. The first week of our visit Sue Anderson was selected as the
new nutritio WIW SWI TW a W SW;W W;SW WW; ; W W ; five years the department has had the retirement of a long time director, in 2003, a very
short term replacement, 7 months, then a return appearance by followed by the hiring of
in 2005 until this past spring. Sue Anderson worked under all of those directors so her ability
to understand the prior status of the department and the various changes it has made in the last few
years is very valuable and will serve the district well as it considers future growth.
One notable point when studying the department is the fact the district food service is managed with so
few staff. The intended supervisory team is the director plus three supervisors, but there has been only
a director and two supervisors prior. And the only year round position is the director. With our study of
the sites and our feeling that there is not enough oversight to keep a system running efficiently or
effectively, coming to the office and experiencing the number of tasks this small group is charged with
drives home our first point the management structure as it exists now , which is heavily weighed for
site based management is not effective with the present style and content of food service and certainly
would not be effective if the district wishes to transform itself into a more health focused and whole
foods focused program.
Technology and Recordkeeping
From what we saw it looks like began to update the paper based system that the department
had been running for a long time. Within the last two years Point of Sale (POS) has been instituted
throughout the district, and within the past year several modules of food service software made by
Horizons called VBOSS has begun to be implemented. We will be auditing these systems more fully on
our next trip but first impressions from the interviews we did with and as well
as speaking to all the managers in the field about the systems in place at their sites is the department is
tied to both old and new and there are some real obstacles to fully realize efficiency in these system
changes, primarily because of the disconnect between management and systems of the warehouse and
nutrition services.
The number of software systems or technology related pieces used include; Nutrikids for recipes and
nutritional analysis only (though BVSD is a not nutrient based district and the program can also do
free/reduced apps/POS, production records, menus and more), MCS for free and reduced application
processing which works with Data Business Systems, QSP, which is local company that is the vendor for
the POS as well as operating a Pay For it option. These programs interface with Infinite Campus, which
is the student information database.
TW WW a;W H VBO““ HW WWWS a ;I ;S ;I SW a W SI W IW; SI WIS ;S ; W H W ; I;;HW I; HW a ;en advantage of because the warehouse system both from a management and
technology side (Lawson) is usurping the food service department as far as control of inventory,
SW ;S WIW H K-12 offerings do include free/reduced application processing; POS,
menus, production records, warehouse, inventory and purchasing, but at this point we do not know
which modules BVSD owns. We will meet with technology in July to better understand the history and
future plans with regard to the existing systems.
There are still a number of paper based records managed within nutrition services, namely menu
production records, food transport temperature records and sales reports sent from satellites to
production sites. Overwhelmingly we heard from production site managers that they took work home
or that they stayed late to complete all the paperwork required. There were also a number of managers
who were not fully aware of all of their paperwork responsibilities. Another area we need to explore is
the role of the cashier. It appears that the district is not really taking advantage of the potential for a
cashless system. Though there are some elementary schools that appear to have totally removed
handling cash in the dining room, for the most part it was approximated that at least 50% of sales at the
middle and high school level involve cash.
What this represents when looking at the whole system is simply more opportunity for loss, much more
time consuming tracking and records and the loss of potential labor hours to the food side because the
district is hiring people whose only job is to sit at the cash register. This is particularly a disadvantage at
the satellite sites where the labor hours are much more limited. Some sites have teams that are fully
cross trained, but that is not the accepted norm.
Ordering
As a subset of technology and recordkeeping the procurement piece in the department will be
researched more fully on our next trip, but in the few hours I spent with and in the
questioning of managerial staff throughout the district, the procurement system is not efficient as it
IW W F ;W ;W ; a ; ; W W; H;S W W consider that her handling of ordering and processing of invoices alone is enough for a full time position.
TW IW a W;SWS W W W W; a W W HWWW vendor orders, warehouse orders, and orders from sites either via VBOSS, Lawson or on paper. To
complicate matters the fact that the previous director handled all the commodity entitlement orders
and did not cross train any member of the office on the process leads to a current supervisory team that
is not well ba lanced from the stand point of being able to step in and cover this very important task of
ordering and procurement.
Menu and Wellness Policy
Menus, recipes and production records are handled by and at the point of our first visit
the menu for the following school year was incomplete. She had Aug/September done. This is very
unusual in a school district. Particularly when one considers that the commodity entitlement orders for
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is going to fit within your menus. In addition the weekly set of production records that maintains is
very complex and appears to take more time than it should. It is unclear how implementation of VBOSS
will shift the efficiencies in this area but when considering the roles of the various supervisors, the
importance of efficiency in the basic system is vital as they are also expected to be monitoring quality at
the sites. Obviously that is not happening to the extent it needs to.
The menu choices as far as the prepared foods used and sold appears to be following the USDA
guidelines but not moving beyond that. The current selections are apparently a few steps up from the
past, but the ramen soups which are an a la carte mainstay at all grade levels, which are known by their
I ;W a “S “ W ;W W ; W IW W SI redirect energy to helping kids make healthy choices. Breakfast offerings such as 4 mini pancakes in a
cellophane wrapper that is heated in a warmer and served with maple flavored high fructose corn syrup
; W WIW a ; HW;a; W;SW a ;HW WW W U“DA guidelines.
The Board Policy on Food Choices offers a viable vision of school health and wellness, but the practice
we observed in the district is not meeting the challenge as yet. The Healthy Food Guidelines offer a
starting point for change in the district, but without real implementation, follow up and annual review
processes engaging a broad spectrum of the district, these guidelines just remain as a document
fulfilling federal requirements.
STUDY NEXT STEPS
In our next visit to the district in July we will focus more heavily on the technology systems,
procurement and warehousing system, including commodity entitlement and vendor contracts,
personnel and budget and further assessment of potential system changes that would work best to
bring BVSD to a whole foods and local procurement system.
Progress Report Two
July 2008
Contents
DISTRICT CULTURE 42
NEXT STEPS 43
INTRODUCTION As stated in our previous progress report the intent of the July visit was to focus on the technology
systems, procurement and warehousing system, including commodity entitlement and vendor
contracts, personnel and budget and further assessment of potential system changes that would work
best to bring BVSD to a whole foods and local procurement system.
Prior to our visit we requested various documents and reports that would help prepare us for meetings
with BVSD personnel as well as a few key vendors to the district. As expected, summer got in the way
and many staff were either on vacation or not scheduled to work in the district in the interim. Though
we did obtain some documents, for example the budget history dating back to 2003, it actually took
meeting with people to explain and restate what kind of records we needed before we received them.
In the end the face to face meetings were extremely useful in making more transparent the current
state of the Nutrition Services Department (NSD) in Boulder as well as understanding how NSD works
with and relates to, from their perspective, the Technology Division, Procurement and Materials
M;;WW ; a;IW a W SI AII DW;W as well as a few of their vendors.
TECHNOLOGY Kevin Cubillas - Director Enterprise Technology, Information Technology Division Rodney Eslinger - Account Executive, Horizon Software International Kevin Cubillas was our first meeting during this trip. We posed to him the various questions we had
concerning the history of software choices for NSD, what drove those choices, cost and maintenance to
support them and what the possibilities were to rethink existing plans to reflect a more efficient system
geared toward the NSD having better accountability of their day to day data purchasing, sales, and
inventory.
Key to this discussion was understanding from the IT side how VBOSS (the back office software that NSD
purchased in December 07 to manage ordering, inventory, menus and production records)fit into the
picture. We knew its implementation had just begun in early 2008, but we had concerns about the
efficiency of running food service specific software as well as a warehouse management module of the
GL software, Lawson, when no single person in the NSD actually understood or knew both systems
completely and when it appeared that their functionality overlaps significantly. We also wanted to
understand the history behind the choice of Data Business Systems QSP Point of Sale (POS the
software that runs the cashiering/sales in the district and generates the sales reporting) software and
what challenges or advantages IT saw in that as opposed to the concept of purchasing the POS module
of VBOSS and running an integrated reporting system that links menu, procurement and sales with the
perpetual inventory.
Kevin explained that at the time VBOSS was purchased the idea of replacing QSP with a POS module in
VBO““ ; ; a;I; H however it does not appear that a cost benefit analysis was
performed to determine this or that linking sales data to the purchase and inventory systems was
viewed as a priority.
The other key piece of information we wanted to understand from IT was the relationship or potential
relationship between VBOSS and Lawson with regard to purchasing and inventory management. As
stated in our previous report, the disconnect between warehouse systems in the district and NSD is
II; ;S W a;I ; N“D SW ;W I over their own warehouse inventory needed to be
explored further. The other key point was that NSD had implemented VBOSS with the intention of
tracking orders and inventory on the sites, and also to help consolidate orders for the warehouse, but it
was not using it to track inventory at the warehouse which is the heart of the functionality of inventory
management in the software design. That role and the eventual reporting to accounting falls to use of
Lawson.
Because there is a significant difference between the functionality of back office software designed
specifically for food service operations and software designed for warehouse management and general
ledger interface we wanted to find out if the point where IT could bridge the two entities could be
considered differently. The plan that had been explained to us, was to link Lawson to VBOSS in a way
; VBO““ IS WW W WW; W L; HWW ; S a ;W S never accomplish the accountability of inventory anS ;I; WS HW a W N“D I; receiving, posting and perpetual inventory was maintained in one place and then reported back to the
general ledger in Lawson.
We proposed that if VBOSS fully managed purchase order creation, receiving and posting of invoices and
maintaining the perpetual inventory, then the final posting of approved purchases could be exported or
linked to Lawson. Kevin thought that was both possible and potentially easier than the existing plan.
To fully understand the functionality of VBOSS we had a meeting with the regional Horizons Software
representative, Rodney Eslinger, who spent 3 hours thoroughly walking us through the functions of the
VBOSS modules that the district owns as well as becoming familiar with the modules it does not own.
As all of us have utilized various food service specific software for many years we appreciate the detail in
functionality this company has brought to their product. Were the district able to fully utilize the
product they own, the ability for NSD to be fully accountable for management of their financial picture
would greatly enhance labor efficiency and create the potential for the department to truly get a handle
on their menu planning, production, procurement and subsequent inventory control all of which will be
required for the district to consider program change. The bottom line is that current accountability is
poor in the existing system as the NSD cannot view all aspects of their system from a central point,
which is what VBOSS is designed to do.
The NSD currently only has one person trained as a trainer on the program, and with her other duties
with regard to processing the free and reduced program in the district, more expertise on the software
by the supervisors and director is essential to expedite implementation of the software and gain the
savings it could provide. This would enhance capturing the benefit of the $100,000 initial cost on the
package as well as the annual $10,000 maintenance costs.
WAREHOUSE and MATERIALS MANAGEMENT Joel Johnson - Inventory Control, Materials Management Rebecca Zidan - Procurement Manager Sharon Meyer - Director of Procurement and Materials Management Our warehouse meeting was with Joel Johnson, Inventory Control for Materials Management. Matt
Stewart , Warehouse Manager, was on vacation or we would have also met with him also. Following our
meeting with IT, discussions with Joel were very informative and carefully illustrated how an order from
NSD leaves that office and flows int JW aaIW W PIWW H;I JW W RWIW stocking and later back to NSD for site orders, back to Joel to input those POs, then to Transportation for
filling the pick ticket and moving product to sites. In the end we figured that starting with the site
managers, an order requiring delivery from the warehouse might be touched six to seven times between
writing paper orders, entering computer orders, consolidating those, then writing a paper order for the
warehouse, then input into Lawson, more than once because NSD will produce both a warehouse
inventory stock order as well as the site orders.
On our previous visit the NSD described the warehouse as challenging to work with and that the
warehouse was telling them what they could ;S IS SW H;WS ;IW H a W warehouse perspective, the picture looks different. It appears that perpetual inventory data viewed by
NSD in Lawson is not clearly understood and translated into what is actually needed to be stocked on
hand. The inventory is the responsibility of the NSD and clearly the potential for a more efficient system
exists given adequate skill sets to run it
MW ;S W; I S ;W; HW S W I; ;S ; ;W HWW S commodity entitlement orders for some time, and when that happens, the difficulty of maintaining
reasonable stock levels in the warehouse, do become a challenge for those handling the inventory. This
was evident in the number of overstocked items we observed. Many of these items are not regularly
used in the menu and some are not even listed.
After this meeting we did meet with the director to alert her to the problem and recommended
immediate action with regard to prioritizing moving current inventory ASAP by rewriting the menu,
(which at the point we visited had only five complete weeks and had not been released to the public)
and putting a hold on any existing POs that were in conflict with running down inventory for example
purchasing applesauce when adequate supplies of cut apples, applesauce and pears are in inventory.
AIIS JW N“D WW S ; W ;WW W; WW JW WS the warehouse, which as we noted in our last report did contain items of questionable shelf life, he
explained that the warehouse ID numbers for commodity items had been blended with the regular
commercial stock IDs for similar products (per the instruction of the previous director). His explanation
was that NSD thought it was unnecessary to maintain them separately as many of the items they also
purchased and perhaps it would be easier to maintain FIFO (first in first out) inventory if they were
stocked as one ID. We believe that a subsequent interview with the warehouse manager who worked
directly with the former director will reveal exactly what the reasoning was, but our concern is that
blending stock numbers makes it impossible to run a year end commodities stock report reflecting both
the Fair Market Value of that item plus the delivery fee which is usually a requirement of most state
agencies operating the NSLP Commodity Entitlement program.
Our immediate recommendation prior to receiving any 09 commodity product would be to reverse that
practice and if possible with the use of historical records to reference any certain historical commodity
stock with specific commodity codes so detailed reporting can be easily achieved. Efficient utilization of
Commodity Entitlement funds is both a key point in controlling overall meal cost and an opportunity to
utilize those savings on better quality product to improve the meal program.
To the end of helping the NSD to identify the warehouse stock and initiate action and responsibility of
NSD over their inventory whether or not they actually personally handle the stock themselves we
asked Joel to run a stock inventory report on Lawson which can immediately help the NSD identify
critical inventory use needs. In addition we suggested that creating a system of recording inventory age
and tracking it will prevent overstocks provided that NSD shifts its procurement practice to actual need
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Since school has not begun, aggressively addressing this area is an opportunity for savings in 08-09 food
costs. We understand that the current director is not responsible for the current state of the
warehouse, but what is important for the new director to understand is that it is the NSD responsibility
to work with the warehouse and keep the inventory levels at manageable levels that are in sync with
WaaIW ;;WW a W ;W ;W; a W ;WW ;aa WWIW W; W ;H to rotate stock easily with fork lifts, maintaining FIFO, having adequate storage areas for Commodity
deliveries etc. We found it fairly challenging to find receiving dates on the various lots in the
warehouse, particularly once a pallet had begun to be used. From a warehouse maintenance
perspective those dates are critical for those managing the movement of the stock in the warehouse
and that identification is important and should be improved.
On our next visit we will revisit the outcomes of this discussion and meet with the warehouse manager
to further discuss potential efficiencies in shifting the ordering and warehouse management records to
VBOSS and learn more about the warehouse management history. We did discuss this possibility to
Joel, who is the primary person who touches the software interface from the warehouse side, and he
admitted the redundancy of the current system can be frustrating and that he spends a considerable
number of hours every week dealing entering information that was entered in VBOSS, then moved to
paper, and then reentered in Lawson. In addition, because of both the disconnect of the two systems
and the lack of management oversight by NSD, site managers are consiW WW WWWI SW ; ; ;- ; WW ; ;SS; ;W WIS ; W ;W IW W WWW N“D WaW WWWIW W I ; H SW;W labor efficiency could be significant. The walk-through issue was also mentioned by Sharon Meyer as a
point of inefficiency.
Another key area of potential savings to both departments would be to examine deliveries of products
throughout the district. Currently the Warehouse runs three trucks with six people and NSD also visits
W W ;W W a ; ;S SW ;SS W N“D WaW;WS I ;S SW who is handling produce and bread deliveries. In our subsequent meeting with Becky Zidan and Sharon
Meyer we discussed the history of the produce and bread deliveries in the district and they confirmed
that the warehouse has delivered the bread products on their trucks in the past and could in the future.
As well, in prior years the produce contract has gone to vendors that deliver directly to sites. At the
time of our meeting with them the produce bid for 08-09 was not complete and we discussed the
potential of writing it to explore direct site delivery of produce and eliminate the fuel and maintenance
costs of the district owned truck. Another consideration is HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control
Points) procedure in the warehouse. All the warehouse deliveries of food are made in unrefrigerated
trucks. Joel stated that the routes can take 4-6 hours to complete and there is not a temperature log
procedure which would identify if refrigerated products may be spending too much time out of proper
storage temperature and potentially reaching unsafe temperatures. Exploring use of the refrigerated
truck and reviewing delivery routes has potential for both safety and savings. When we return in
September we will pose these questions to the warehouse manager to learn more and will consider
efficiency in transportation costs a key area when proposing future organizational structures for the
department.
Another question posed to Becky and Sharon was district policy with regards to bids and procurement
and Sharon outlined the guidelines. We discussed the potential of district policy reflecting different
protocol for perishable products as opposed to the purchases of shelf stable foods, supplies or paper
products, and Sharon said that would be possible to explore. From the standpoint of creating a new
vision of the NSD that prioritizes whole foods and healthy choices as well as from the perspective of
finding vendors that will provide both quality and service, bidding on produce is antithetical to the
business. Produce companies operate on very slim margins and are at the mercy of the market trends in
a way tha SW ;aaWI Wa ;HW SI ; I BWI ;S ; WS ;S ; HW getting produce vendors to bid on the district and that is not surprising since locking in bid prices on
produce puts the distributor at a great disadvantage as well as not reflecting a smart seasonal
purchasing strategy by the district. Sharon and Becky stated that they have relied on the expertise of
the NS director in the past when guiding decision making on bids, and that the decision for the NSD to
buy its own truck to handle self delivery of bread and produce last year had been made without
thorough input of Materials Management and that they also questioned the need and cost efficiency of
that choice.
BUDGET ANALYSIS, GL ANALYSIS, LABOR HOURS AND REPORTING Leslie Stafford Chief Financial Officer Chuck McElwain Accounting Services Director Mike Pederson Payroll Specialist Karen Samuels District Accountant To gain a greater understanding of the history of the NSD, we requested budget histories dating back to
2003 prior to our visit to the district. Karen Samuels, District Accountant, who has been helping the NSD
analyze their financial performance through creating trend reports and site P and Ls in the past year was
instrumental in guiding us through the SI a W N“D HSW ; W ; HW W ; contact to obtain 07-08 sales records from the vendors.
Of particular interest to us were the assumptions used to create the annual budget and what criteria the
district was using to trend projected revenues and expenses for each year. What we discovered by and
large is that the NSD budgets have not been based on actual head counts and federal reimbursement
rates, but have reflected prior years with some percentage increases added.
Similarly, food cost expenses have not been based on the actual relationship to meal counts, but have
reflected purchase history. In looking forward to a program where perishable food plays a larger part
and where the efficiency of handling and production figure aI; W H W W aWW essential to configure the budget to be as aligned with actual costs as possible so the district can set
realistic goals based on their vision for the NSD as a daily participant in the lives of students in the
district.
In general, with a basic perusal of the budget, it is clear that the reimbursable meals are the bread and
HW a W N“D WWW W; I; W SI a W HSW ; ;W written is to begin to isolate the net value of a la carte sales as opposed to the reimbursable meal.
Gross sales figures tend to predominate when a la carte is discussed and that approach gives an
inaccurate picture of a la carte when factoring in labor and food cost.
TW SI I;l view of a la I;W ;W W;W ;W ; ; W; W;W O ; response to that formula is that it does not reflect typical sales, as stated in the previous report. We
have been in contact with the owner of QSP and he is going to write a program into QSP that will allow
accounting to run a report showing the average transaction amount in the schools. This should help us
analyze the relationship between the amount of labor attributed to a la carte as opposed to
reimbursable meals.
F I; W ; ; ;W W I; W Wa;IW W;;W a W SI sites. Currently in the P and Ls that Karen Samuels has created for the NSD, the production sites and
their carry outs are lumped together as one cost center so isolating the relationships of labor to actual
W; SI SWaWS ; ; a W I; ; W S ;; ;W stock all the food they serve, very often have to handle, finish and heat much of the meal. For example,
in some carry out sites they both stock and prep their Harvest Bars.
Karen also provided us data via general ledger summaries of vendor payouts which we will use in
combination with actual reporting from vendors to isolate the food cost attribut