Dist. 204 food provider spared chopping block

The reviews are in and it appears Indian Prairie District 204’s food service provider, Chartwells, has been spared the chopping block.

Last spring, district officials and board members said they wanted to see a marked increase in participation and in customer satisfaction with the quality of the meals to keep Chartwells on board. While the school board next month will vote on extending the company’s contract another year, board members Monday night said they were pleased with Chartwells’ progress.

Not only did a November survey reveal students are happier with the quality of the hot lunches, but more students are eating them than six months ago.

“What have we seen? That there has been substantial improvement in the program since April. The survey results reflect that. The participation reflects that,” said Karla Zozulia, director of support services for the district. She said the participation numbers are the best she has ever seen.

In the elementary, middle and high schools, about 14,500 lunches were served daily in November, translating to about 52 percent participation, up from 37 percent in April. The largest gains were at the middle school and high school levels with both having 58 percent participation up from 37 percent at the middle schools and 34 percent at the high schools. Elementary schools saw the smallest participation gains, from 38 percent to 41 percent.

Results of a meal quality survey for families offered in November that was identical to one given to families in the spring also showed improvement. While the spring survey showed about 40 percent of respondents from all schools found the quality of meals to be poor or unacceptable, the more recent survey improved to 30 percent of families feeling that way.

“We have definitely seen some meaningful progress in some of these numbers. It was very heartening to see the increased participation in all the levels especially in middle school and high school,” board President Curt Bradshaw said. Still, he would like to see more students find the lunches adequate, good and excellent.

Board member Christine Vickers said her children no longer get hot lunches because they were unhappy with quality. “My kids opted out, that was a big statement,” she said.

Zozulia said she expects there to be further improvement, especially since Chartwells is still making changes to its production kitchens. The plan is to go from several production sites down to one or two in an effort to make the quality of elementary school lunches more consistent.

One site is scheduled to open at Metea Valley High School on Friday and a second site may be created to better serve the southern schools. Food is shuttled from preparation sites to the district’s 21 elementary schools and alternative high school.

Chartwell has been implementing a comprehensive action plan to make improvements from consistency and quality to excitement about lunch to better signs that display prices.

Chef’s tables offer meal samples to students that they can then purchase. Action stations allow students to make specific choices about food preparation as their meal is cooked in front of them. Student groups give input on meal choices and suggestion boxes are available for feedback. In addition, the company is using seasonal ingredients and fresh produce.

“You are making some changes that are making a difference because more kids are eating it,” board member Susan Rasmus told Chartwells’ officials at the meeting.