D204 board members critique cafeteria food

The soggy French toast sticks were “yucky,” but the turkey corn dogs were a “yummy.”

Yes, it was school food, but the culinary critic was a school board member, not a student.

Amid complaints about the quality of food in Indian Prairie Unit District 204 schools, board members Dawn DeSart, Susan Rasmus and Lori Price took a field trip recently to try what students were having for lunch.

Quality ranged from so-good-you-want-the-recipe chicken noodle soup to hockey-puck texture Salisbury steak. At another school, the Salisbury steak was OK.

“One was homemade and one was frozen,” Price said. “And the frozen one actually tasted better.” There also was inconsistency with pizza, with one school good enough to get “restaurant quality” raves to some so unappetizing the trio asked lunch workers not to serve it.

Their assessment of lunches was borne out in a districtwide survey of families; 40 percent of students rated quality of meals as poor or unacceptable. About another 40 percent found the food quality to be acceptable, while 19 percent in all grades found the food to be good.

Chartwells, the company in the second year of a five-year contract, is on notice with the district.

“I don't know how to sugarcoat this, so I'm just going to be honest,” board President Curt Bradshaw said. “Chartwells' performance is unacceptable.”

The school board is giving Chartwells about six months to get more kids eating school lunches and giving them a yummy review or face losing its contract. Another survey will be held in November to track progress.

“This is a meal of the day that really matters,” board member Christine Vickers said. “So if my kid comes home feeling dizzy or weak because he or she didn't eat, then I have a concern.”

School lunch purchases are up at district middle and high schools, but are down slightly at the elementary schools. In April, about 9,600 lunches were served with overall meal participation up in the district to 37 percent this year from 34 percent last year. The lunch survey received 3,000 responses.

Chartwells has some challenges.

Not only must it please kids, but it must do it with a budget of about $2.33 a meal. On top of that, Chartwells must raise the nutritional quality of those meals to abide by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 that raises standards for school meals by adding fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fat-free options and low-fat milk. Already, the company plans to discontinue deep fat frying and to use more seasonal ingredients and local produce. Also, it will reduce the use of salt by doing things like replacing pickled jalapeños with fresh ones.

Chartwells, which replaced its District 204 manager in January, put together a comprehensive action plan to improve everything from consistency and quality to excitement about lunch choices to better signs that display prices.

“We're trying to build some momentum going forward,” said Greg Manning, Chartwells manager.

To better monitor quality of elementary school lunches, the district may go from several production kitchens to one at Metea Valley High School. All food for the district's 21 elementary schools and alternative high school must be prepared off-site.

Kitchen staff will receive more training and be held to stronger consistency standards. Also, taste tests are being conducted at schools along with tableside interviews with students during lunch.

Marketing the lunches and getting kids used to different kinds of food also is part of the plan. For instance, Chartwells earlier this year opened a chef's table at a high school with samples of Indian food that led to increased lunch sales. Other efforts include using a costumed turtle to visit schools to promote lunch, offering puzzles and games that reinforce the need for good nutrition, using “lucky” trays with prizes, and testing different sandwiches, salads and vegetarian entrees at schools.

Chartwells has had some successes this year. The company helped the district implement the National School Lunch Program and helped the district achieve the Healthier U.S. Gold Standard for its elementary schools, which means the district is providing a variety of healthy foods to students each week, teaching students about nutrition and giving them exercise.

Also, Chartwells made gluten- and casein-free lunches available to students with a doctor's note. More options will be available to those students next year, along with more vegetarian menu choices.