WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Getting the basics for school lunches these days is a challenge. It’s a nationwide problem as many sectors, including schools, are dealing with the impacts of the global supply chain shortage.
It’s a problem that Westerville City Schools noticed as soon as the school year started. Struggling already with staffing vacancies, food service officials say they’re doing the best that they can day by day to keep up with the demand.
“We spend hours finding replacement items when we can’t get what we’ve menued,” said Kari Dennis, director of Human Resources and Food Services with Westerville City Schools. Sometimes, the replacements have included getting some extra help from local vendors.
“We are calling our local pizza vendors that we have on our menus or relationships with, and they’re filling the gaps for us,” she said, but adding that’s not always an option. Things like Texas Toast are no longer being produced. So they’ve had to tell parents they won’t have it on the menu.
That’s just part of the challenge. Now that the USDA allows schools to serve all kids free meals, the participation jumped 25%. Now, the district is serving more than half of its 14,000 students each day. For employees, that means it’s “all hands on deck.”
“Every day we… I’m in buildings helping serve, helping prep, supporting the staff,” said Dennis.
While it’s not an easy job, she said she appreciates all of the employees as “they show up every day to get it done, really grateful for them.”
While Westerville City Schools is just one district in Ohio dealing with the problem, Southwestern Educational Purchasing Council said all 623 districts they work with, including Westerville City Schools, are facing the same problems and it’s impacting about 1 million kids.
