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The St. Joseph School District announced Monday that its nutrition services provider Opaa! has saved it hundreds of thousands of dollars.
It a new release Monday the district said that Opaa! has successfully closed the District’s &600,000 nutrition services loss and generated another $200,000 in revenue to be reinvested in nutrition.
“Hiring Opaa! has allowed us to stabilize our daily lunch cost,” said Rick Hartigan, Chief Operating Officer for the District. “It is a win-win for the District and students. We are able to
provide students with healthy, high quality food that meets federal requirements within our budget.”
Previously, the District ran its own nutrition services department, which led to a loss of $600,000 in 2012-2013 and $800,000 in 2011-2012. Nutrition services is funded through federal money, but any operating loss has to be made up through District operating funds.
“When the nutrition services department delivers positive financial results, local taxpayer funds aren’t required to subsidize operations,” said Jeff Roberts, Opaa! Area Director of Operations. “That means more resources are available for student education and activities. We are particularly pleased that we can operate the SJSD in the black, while offering the students a variety of menu choices and using high-quality name brand foods.”
Opaa! began service Oct. 22, 2013. According to the Distric the nutrition services provider has kept all of the nutrition staff employed by the District and has continued to hire nutrition staff locally.
Nationally, school lunch participation is down about 5% as students adjust to healthier food EDUCATING EACH CHILD FOR SUCCESS requirements. SJSD’s Opaa! lunches, which meet the federal requirements, are experiencing an
increase for the 2014-2015 school year