MERIDEN — The first wave of students — second and third-graders — at John Barry Elementary School all grabbed lunches from the cafeteria counter and sat at tables throughout the cafeteria and school gymnasium late Wednesday morning.
That gave nutrition services staff like Jenn Koss, a 25-year employee of the Meriden Public Schools, a little bit of down time — to clean and put away cookware, before the next wave of students. She even had two minutes to spare, while drying off stainless steel pans, to speak with a reporter.
It’s been a challenging year for nutrition service employees like Koss. Ongoing global supply chain issues, spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, created shortages in the most ubiquitous of school lunch foods and items — things like chicken nuggets, egg patties, milk and even cardboard trays. In fact, the costs of the trays increased six-fold in the past year, according to officials.
The shortages make long-term menu planning a challenge.
“You get what you can. And you try to make the best of it and definitely sell it to the kids,” Koss said.
On this day, for example, staff had previously anticipated a menu of food choices that included plain hamburgers. They were not available. Instead, the menu offerings for that lunch included cheese pizza, cheeseburger sliders on whole wheat buns, broccoli, apples and some other items.
Students didn’t seem to mind.
As Koss noted: “They were really excited about the sliders. It’s not something they would normally get. But they’re happy about it. So that worked out.”
In addition to staff members wearing masks, other COVID-19 measures were on display. Students socially distanced — seated across tables throughout the cafeteria and gymnasium.
The cafeteria alone can seat at least 200 students. Around 80 students were seated in the cafeteria, with a similar number in the gymnasium.
Despite the distancing, the sounds of lunchroom chatter still filled each room.
Between meal waves, nutrition staff scurried to wipe down and disinfect tables and stools and clean the floor in time for the next group of hungry students.
District leaders don’t expect the challenges to abate any time soon. The available food supply issues have been compounded by other issues, including delivery driver shortages and staffing shortages at distribution facilities.
Meriden Public Schools even have a few staffing vacancies of their own.
“I thought last year was going to be the worst year that we were going to have. But right now, they’re predicting possibly another two years,” said Susan Maffe, director of food and nutrition services for the Meriden Public Schools, of the ongoing food supply challenges.
So Maffe and her staff are making plans for potential solutions — including renting a frozen food trailer for additional storage capacity.
A notable shift from last year — more students are able to sit at each table. And unlike last year, they are able to face one another. Other social distancing and cohorting measures are still in place.
“At any one point in time there’s only one grade in each area,” Maffe said. “So it’s the same group of kids being kept together.”
Maffe is a veteran of the food services industry. She has 30 years in the field, with 17 years in Meriden Public Schools.
She said this year so far has been “absolutely” one of the most challenging.
“It’s continual crisis management,” she said. “It is nothing that you can plan for — because the issues are different almost every day.”
One thing that hasn’t changed: staff ensure all students are fed. Counting all breakfasts and lunches, Maffe estimated staff serve up at least 10,000 meals a day. Counting all summer and winter meal programs, she estimated her staff distributes about 1.5 million meals in a single year.
The latest food items that have been hard to come by are egg patties for breakfast sandwiches. Also plain hamburger patties.
“We’ve had trouble getting lactose-free milk and potatoes,” Maffe said. “Cereal is a really big problem right now.”
The shipping lead time — how long it takes for orders to come from warehouses — has extended as much as eight to 10 weeks, Maffe said.
Obtaining new appliances is an additional challenge. Maffe said when she tried to purchase an oven she was told it would not be available until next October.
“So, we’re constantly planning ahead with how we’re going to be able to keep operations going, with the problem continuing to get worse,” Maffe said.
Janet Crosetti-Jackson, a five-year employee, said ordering and receiving sought-after food items has been the biggest challenge.
“We have to flip the menus quite often,” she said. “You find out, ‘Oh this didn’t come in.’ So we have to change the menu.”
Crosetti-Jackson and other staff previously would have planned out their schools’ meals a month ahead. Now they’re planned weekly — and not posted until the Friday before the following week.
“We don’t print our menus until everything is in-house. So when something doesn’t show, we can change the menus before it’s out to the teachers and students,” Crosetti-Jackson said.
Meriden School Superintendent Mark D. Benigni had high praise for Maffe and the food service staff.
“Susan and her team have done a terrific job of making it work for all of our students,” Benigni said. “I appreciate the understanding from our students and families that we’re doing our best and we may not have every option that we wish we had available but we will continue to serve all students.”
One thing that is apparent — families count on the meals their children receive from their local schools. District staff have continued to provide meals, during summer months and the winter breaks.
“The need is still there,” Benigni said.
Federal officials have recognized the need. Districts with large populations of low income families like Meriden had long been eligible to serve universal free meals, through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Community Eligibility Provision. Last year, the USDA granted a waiver so that all school districts would be able to serve meals free of charge. The agency expanded that waiver to include this year as well.
In Meriden, officials and staff will continue to monitor and stay ahead of the supply chain issues, Benigni and Maffe explained.
“I do think we’re going to need to continue to be creative and flexible. And if we do that, I think we will be OK,” Benigni said.
Board of Education President Robert Kosienski Jr. described food service staff members’ daily efforts as “Herculean.”
“They are working to creatively put together meals that are enjoyable for the students and meet the required standards for nutrition. Breakfast items have been the biggest area of concern, and with Susan’s connections throughout the state, and collaboration with some of our local food distributors, Meriden’s Food Service program has been able to operate without major disruption,” Kosienski stated in an email to the Record-Journal. “In these instances, Meriden is very fortunate to have the leadership and professionalism and staff that support our students and families every day. We all hope that things get better as the supply chains open further during the next few months.”
Employees like Koss and Crosetti-Jackson have taken the challenges in stride. Koss said she enjoys the day-to-day interactions with students and co-workers.
“My job is fun … We have a good group. We laugh. We get our work done. We make sure every kid eats. We leave with a smile,” Koss said.
“Like we said, the job’s rewarding,” Crosetti-Jackson added.
[email protected]:@MikeGagneRJ
