tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post4375993531106005263..comments2024-03-28T02:21:17.452-07:00Comments on Seattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle Schools' Nutrition Services Report ReleasedMelissa Westbrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17179994245880629080noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-12557899974801936392020-11-07T08:03:52.816-08:002020-11-07T08:03:52.816-08:00I can see that you are an expert at your field! I ...I can see that you are an expert at your field! I am launching a website soon, and your information will be very useful for me..<br />Thanks for all your help and wishing you all the success.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://www.asapersonaltraining.co.uk/health-coach/" rel="nofollow">Nutrition health services in birmingham</a><br />wareendalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00477140647919158807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-752350117183238622020-09-25T20:31:18.570-07:002020-09-25T20:31:18.570-07:00Thank for sharing such an informative post.Thank for sharing such an informative post.Wholesome Food Serviceshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10144708517756175605noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-12177838064276352802016-05-20T22:02:35.899-07:002016-05-20T22:02:35.899-07:00Whoops name above--
TeacherWhoops name above-- <br /><br />TeacherAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-59382981406557709092016-05-20T22:01:31.774-07:002016-05-20T22:01:31.774-07:00I am an elementary teacher in a school with very h...I am an elementary teacher in a school with very high poverty. I want school breakfast to be more nutritious. My very hungry students are frequently given a slice of toast with margarine, apple juice, cinnamon roll, or cereal. There is little or no protein. It is not satisfying or balanced. We need a school breakfast revolution!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-71384230880946393612016-05-20T11:13:58.873-07:002016-05-20T11:13:58.873-07:00Meg, that is heartbreakingly accurate. Whenever we...Meg, that is heartbreakingly accurate. Whenever we have something a couple schools are doing well and other schools less well(advanced learning, food, curriculum, focus, even managing their own enrollment and waitlists), instead of trying to replicate success, or teaching other schools how to do it, we either love to death the popular place by overcrowding it, shut it down, or take it to central and wreck it for everyone.<br /><br />-sleeperAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-30059988416550822892016-05-20T10:24:46.070-07:002016-05-20T10:24:46.070-07:00My daughter was on FRL when she was at Garfield, b...My daughter was on FRL when she was at Garfield, but reportedly the lunches were so bad she went elsewhere. <br />Its really a critical issue.<br />When I was in high school, even though we had multiple lunch times, there was no way for me to get lunch, and eat it in the cafeteria, because it was too crowded. ( in junior high, we sat on the bathroom floor, but in high school the bathrooms were too dingy, in grade school, which didnt have a cafeteria, we sat at our desks)<br />As a result, I went with friends who had cars who went off campus. However, they either had teachers who were more flexble or didnt have class after lunch, as I was locked out of the classroom for being late, which contributed to me dropping out.Jet City momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14804841958585043967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-47266160430321303452016-05-19T20:23:09.568-07:002016-05-19T20:23:09.568-07:00As Dave pointed out, during Goodloe-Johnson's ...As Dave pointed out, during Goodloe-Johnson's tenure, SPS management declared that the district would save money and increase revenues by having all schools use foods prepared in the central kitchen. At the time, many members of the community pointed out that this was likely to cause students who could choose to participate in the meal programs to STOP participating. <br /><br />This may sound familiar: after spending a lot of money (that could be in classrooms) to come up with it, SPS management unveils a Great Plan That Do Great Things. Affected communities point out substantial flaws in the plan, but are ignored, because They Don't Really Understand. Eventually, those flaws turn out to be significant (and expensive) problems. This is often eventually pointed out by an expensive consultant (using money that could be in classrooms). <br /><br />Also familiar: in this case, SPS managament forced schools to adopt their vision, citing things like consistency, economies of scale (since the "savings" would benefit "all students"), and simplification of a "complicated" process. <br /><br />Management didn't listen to schools, or their communities, nor did they provide adequate support to schools to implement management's plan. The big problems schools have with lunch - they can't provide adequate lunch time or space to students, since the physical facilities are acutely overcrowded - are ones that management calls "site-based decisions" and declines to provide any help on. Help, in this case, is likely to = $$$$ to deal with the problem.<br /><br />SPS nutrition services management appears to have a very similar approach to other parts of JSCEE management: if JSCEE management wants schools to do something, it's for reasons of cost-effectiveness (which... don't even get me started), consistency, providing all students with a similar service. If it's a problem schools are having (often because central has pushed it on them - schools cannot control their enrollment, for instance) that JSCEE management does not want to acknowledge as a problem or deal with, then it's a "site-based" decision that they "can't" interfere with.<br /><br />I'm probably just being cynical. It's probably all just an odd coincidence.Meghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12795753563127975720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-89998925487659092542016-05-19T14:18:17.033-07:002016-05-19T14:18:17.033-07:00I share Charlie's feelings. I am frustrated w...I share Charlie's feelings. I am frustrated with the district yet again. So many seemingly smart people at the top and yet, operations struggle year after year.Melissa Westbrookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17179994245880629080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-19917734364797181172016-05-19T13:27:02.905-07:002016-05-19T13:27:02.905-07:00As you may recall, our union (Local 609 at: www.iu...As you may recall, our union (Local 609 at: www.iuoelocal609.org) protested mightily when Don Kennedy and MGJ used the Council of Great City Schools to recommend make foods downtown and stop cooking in the schools. We demonstrated repeatedly at Board meetings to no avail.<br /><br />At the time CGCS said the District "could save a million dollars" by that move. What actually happened was they lost a million customers.<br /><br />The glass palace just doesn't listen to regular people like us.Dave W.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-20346547791181343342016-05-19T13:21:46.340-07:002016-05-19T13:21:46.340-07:00Charlie:
To be fair, Nutrition has not been cited...Charlie:<br /><br />To be fair, Nutrition has not been cited often for unfair labor practices. Although there has been a series of poor choices as Director, it is the job of the Labor Relations side of HR to address such practices before charges are filed and has failed to do so for 20-30 years.<br /><br />Charges HAVE stemmed primarily from principals making schedule changes that have the effect of hurting the program and students. Then the District defends them. We have won many if not all of those cases.<br /><br />You are again spot on about principals but a good example would be when Sara Pritchett changed McClure from two lunches to one. Banda PROMOTED her to Director soon after.<br /><br />That's the level at which the Board needs to take action and make support of the Nutrition program part of the evaluations of principals.Dave W.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-91692451588581704342016-05-19T13:06:39.346-07:002016-05-19T13:06:39.346-07:00Everything in this report has been well-known for ...Everything in this report has been well-known for a long, long time. Once again, we pay consultants to tell us what we already know. If there were an authentic review of Nutrition Services the people in that department could have produced this report themselves, but did we even need Nutrition Services to tell us? Isn't this information simply common knowledge within the District?<br /><br />All of this is just so discouraging. This report tells of a deep and persistent apathy. Apathy about feeding students. Apathy about the time they are given to eat, the options they are given to eat, the space they are given to eat. The utter absence of care is so stark that it's really sickening.<br /><br />And I don't mean a lack of care by the nutrition services staff, but by the nutrition services management. Surely this is the second-worst department in the District when it comes to management (no one can compete with the dysfunction in HR). And this gross mis-management has been calmly accepted by the district leadership for years and years. Nutrition Services is frequently cited for Unfair Labor Practices as well.<br /><br />So now what? Now the schools are supposed to actually follow the policies around student meals? What have the Executive Directors of Schools been doing before this? Why haven't they rejected the schedules given them by principals? Do the Executive Directors even know the policies? Do they care about the policies? What, if anything, do the Executive Directors do?<br /><br />The more I think about this - this shocking neglect bordering on cruelty - the angrier I get. Because I know that nothing will change and this terrible story will continue to be the story in future. Because nobody cares. They didn't care before this report, they don't care now, and they aren't going to start caring.Charlie Mashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17173903762962067277noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-73410145983326049442016-05-19T12:38:02.045-07:002016-05-19T12:38:02.045-07:00Why doesn't this surprise me?
Although NS ma...Why doesn't this surprise me?<br /><br /> <i>Although NS maintains an inventory of equipment in the schools, it could be improved.<br /> Data provided to the consulting team indicates equipment condition is not maintained accurately. The district has <b>133 pieces of equipment older than 50 years; of these, 53 pieces are noted as being in “excellent” or “new” condition.</b></i><br /><br />And yet, I've heard of new furniture being purchased for JSCEE offices - kind of boggles the mind how this kind of thing just goes along with no one questioning the rationale....<br /><br />reader47Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-4297607311647308802016-05-19T11:20:52.272-07:002016-05-19T11:20:52.272-07:00^^^^ I hit publish prematurely before editing. I a...^^^^ I hit publish prematurely before editing. I apologize in advance for a couple of mistakes.<br /><br />The last line should read "But does anyone think they would actually do something like that?"<br /><br />northwesternerAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-21343203272269636152016-05-19T11:18:41.148-07:002016-05-19T11:18:41.148-07:00No shock on the findings here.
The question is wi...No shock on the findings here.<br /><br />The question is will the district actually do anything to clean up this operation? <br /><br /><br />A side note from eating a school a long, long time ago. <br /><br />I went to a number of schools in the district (5) from K-12. Some schools still had a functional kitchen, and the majority of the food would be made in house. That food was edible.<br /><br />Other, mostly newer buildings, had all the food trucked in from the Central Kitchen and warmed up for meal service. That food was absolutely inedible. <br /><br />When I was a Whitman, they still had a grill and deep fryer that was functional. You could eat from the salad bar (always open) the burger bar (always open, and was edible) or from the cooked in house district mandated entree of the day (usually edible). Lots of choices and the lines were long. Students rushed to the lunch room to get in a line so they could eat. <br /><br />The very next year I was at Ballard (@Lincoln) and the food was central kitchen food. The same kids who were eagerly lining up to eat the cafeteria food at Whitman learned after about a week that the lunches were inedible. Pretty soon we were all wandering up to QFC every day and eating from the deli. The lines at Ballard (@Lincoln) were no existent because the food was so bad. There was no improvement when we moved into the new Ballard. Again, central kitchen food. <br /><br />Many years ago, the district had the cash registers set up so the kids had electronic accounts and wouldn't need to bring cash every day (and it would auto verify FRL). Presumably, a similar setup is still in place. <br /><br />Since the district generally knows which kids are buying lunch and how often, if they cared, they could track the same kid's purchasing behavior as they move from Elementary to Middle to High School, and then cross-reference with how the food is being delivered to look for areas of improvement. <br /><br />But doesn't anyone think they would actually do something like that?<br /><br />northwesternerAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-49629502652475745142016-05-19T10:32:58.480-07:002016-05-19T10:32:58.480-07:00FedMomof2, the report noted that the floor is not...FedMomof2, the report noted that the floor is not the cleanest place for anyone to be eating.<br /><br />HP, I'm not sure they did ID the 3 high schools doing well.<br /><br />Mom of 4, the consultants noted your concern. It does seem unfair that if you are last in line (thru no fault of your own), you get fewer choices.Melissa Westbrookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17179994245880629080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-73055082191111232252016-05-19T10:19:40.978-07:002016-05-19T10:19:40.978-07:00Agree about running out of food items - there are ...Agree about running out of food items - there are 3 lunches at our K-8, and during the 2 years that they are in the last lunch period (it goes by grade) my kids never bought lunch, because they realized pretty quickly that the cafeteria usually runs out of the better entrée by then, and sometimes out of both (there's always the salad bar, and they hand out leftover yogurt & such from breakfast, so no one actually goes hungry). <br /><br />Mom of 4Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-58123656270465219942016-05-19T10:02:16.319-07:002016-05-19T10:02:16.319-07:00I have a freshman daughter at Ballard High School ...I have a freshman daughter at Ballard High School and she believes that it is totally normal to eat lunch everyday sitting on the floor somewhere. Given the lack of seating in the lunch area, she spends her lunch period essentially roaming the halls looking for her friends to sit with, and free carpet space on which to sit. She started the year bringing her lunch in her nice little lunch bag. But with the prevailing culture being that of sitting on the floor and/or roaming around to look for your lunch buddies in the science pod, or the history pod, or wherever they have located that day, the whole point of actually eating lunch seems more and more to be lost on her. I am sure that some eating of something gets done, but the environment overall is really not conducive to it when you are looking for your friends in the carpeted areas of the hallways. Yes, it my job as a parent to encourage healthy eating and I do that. But I think it is really interesting that she thinks it is totally normal to go eat lunch on the dirty floor somewhere everyday. And she would never stand in the lines to buy food because she says they are long.<br /><br />-Fedmomof2 Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-86974106302136795812016-05-19T09:48:17.322-07:002016-05-19T09:48:17.322-07:00only three of the eight high schools observed had ...only three of the eight high schools observed had adequate seating for just the number of students eligible for free/reduced lunch each lunch period<br /><br />I wonder which 3 these are. Hale has one lunch period but kids can sit in the Commons area, the Activity center, outside courtyard, outside anywhere, or classrooms. Clubs meet during lunch. Lunch is only 30 minutes and there is a 5 minute passing period after lunch to get to class.<br /><br />HP<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-46713154666527920562016-05-19T09:34:00.708-07:002016-05-19T09:34:00.708-07:00NOVA has a decent lunch period. If I could make mo...NOVA has a decent lunch period. If I could make more suggestions I would love to see a salad bar, we could put a scale so students know if they run over a poundage they would need to pay a bit more. I have run a rather successful professional salad bar before (in the private sector.) I am not making everything from scratch, more so I am utilizing the available goods and offering vegetarian/vegan options with every meal, primarily a scratch build your own burrito bar. I rather enjoyed the visit from the consultants and find most of this report...I did read it all, it's HUGE...to be very eyeopening. We can make the food better. Most of the kitchens have the equipment to do better, they just need more hands and time. I really don't know how I do what I do in the time given, but I have had some rather steady student help that are learning meal components, knife skills and basic pairings of flavor and visual impact. I thank my students for helping make this a success. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07209786323617298784noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-7633852286483258482016-05-19T08:50:07.436-07:002016-05-19T08:50:07.436-07:00Do they identify which 3 high schools are doing ok...Do they identify which 3 high schools are doing okay?<br /><br />HPAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-33414300582704258352016-05-19T08:08:33.008-07:002016-05-19T08:08:33.008-07:00No surprises in this report. Hopefully the Distric...No surprises in this report. Hopefully the District takes the next step and implements the recommendations that will increase participation. Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12379492624576226006noreply@blogger.com