August 10, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New items to the school menus, ready to be served

Members of the Nutritional Services Department of the Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools (KCKPS,) headed by director, Karla Strickland, have been working all summer to bring district school children better tasting and more nutritional meals and snacks. They'll be ready to serve lunch on Monday, August 13. Cafeterias will begin breakfast service on Tuesday, August 14.

Nutritional Services staff have rewritten menus, and added new items. New additions include: "Toasty Dog", a grilled cheese and hot dog sandwich, and a chicken egg roll served with steamed rice.

These and other items new to the menu were discovered by Strickland and her assistant, Gwen Childs, at the National School Nutrition Association Convention in Chicago this summer.

"We checked out new products and learned new techniques that will be taught to Nutritional Services staff at in-service trainings throughout the school year," Strickland said.

Elementary students will eat their lunches on environmentally-friendly trays. The trays, which are black cardboard with a special coating, will replace the aluminum trays that have been used in years past.

New to high schools will be the addition of Planet Sub and Dominos Pizza to the ala carte line. They'll also be getting new milk and juice vending machines.

Almost every cafeteria position has been filled, a huge feat, considering that there are more than 240 cooks, servers, porters, cafeteria managers and administrative staff. A new position, Administrative Catering Manager, has been created to take school district catering to a new level. This new employee will oversee the catering of special events, and after school programs.

The Administrative Catering Manager will also work with Strickland, and Jamie Batschke, a representative of Healthier Generation, a group that provides an action plan for wellness and healthier life habits. They will support schools in their efforts to establish a wellness plan designed to meet the specific needs of each school.

Another new Nutritional Services team member is Nutri-Pear, a new mascot to the department. Nutri-Pear will be visiting schools during the school year to promote wellness.

Other preparations for the new school year include the purchase and installation of some new equipment. In addition, preventive maintenance has been performed on other equipment.

Strickland wants to remind parents and students that every family, no matter what their income, should fill out and submit a form for free and reduced lunch eligibility. These completed forms are used only to establish eligibility for a free or reduced price lunch for the student(s). Only one form per family is needed. The information provided is not shared with any outside agency for any reason.

Applications may be picked up and/or dropped off at individual schools or the Nutritional Services office (2112 North 18th Street). Parents may also call the Nutritional Service office, 913-627-3900 to request a form, or with any questions they may have about the process.

Some interesting Nutritional Services statistics from 2006-07:

• 370,000 Spicy Chicken Sandwiches – 1200 cases ordered for the first month of 2007-08
• 1,018,800 cups of juice – First order for 07-08 is for 4000 cases
• 235,110 Beef Patties – Start 07-08 with 26,123
• 88,680 Chicken Fried Steaks – Start 07-08 with 9,853
• 766,280 Chicken Nuggets – a full tractor-trailer load!
• 686,4000 packets of Ranch Dressing in JUST the elementary schools!
• 68,100 pounds of Tossed Salad
• 17,240 pounds of Bulk Cereal and 107,232 Bowlpacks of Cereal
• 1,179 cases of Canned Corn
• 1,116 cases of Green Beans
• 457 cases of Corn on the Cob – 43,872 ears
• 1,343 cases of Baby Carroteenies – 268,600 packages
• 1,109 cases of Frozen Strawberries
• 986 cases of Frozen Broccoli
• 920 cases of Fresh Apples – 126,960 apples