Cafeteria services exceeds local expectations, but has room to grow

In his report to the school board Wednesday night, Superintendent Dr. Don Haddad highlighted efforts in the St. Vrain Valley School District to provide meals for students and families throughout the district.

Haddad noted that SVVSD received the status of “meets or exceeds expectations” from Boulder and Weld County Public Health departments, Colorado Department of Education, U.S. Department of Agriculture and Colorado Child and Adult Food Care Program, which govern and regulate school district nutrition services.

All student breakfast and lunches throughout the district are free of charge, Haddad said. At September’s count, the district nutrition services program saw an increase of 123,500 meals beyond any previous count. Haddad went on to explain that while some of the increase can be attributed to growth in the district, more was due to families needing additional support through the ongoing pandemic.

Among the nutrition programs illustrated by Haddad, Columbine Elementary School’s participation in Colorado Proud School Meal Day — where students ate meals sourced from Colorado products before meeting with local farmers and ranchers — and grant funding for continued district collaboration with Future Farmers of America to provide more locally sourced meals in schools.

To reduce food waste, elementary schools in the district have implemented a food rescue station program for unused and unopened food items, Haddad said. In collaboration with Eco-Cycle and the Boulder County Zero Waste Initiative, the program will extend to all elementary schools within SVVSD, he explained.

The district distributed 4.4 million meals to students and families in the district during 2021 because of the pandemic, including 286,000 student meals during the summer Project Launch program, according to Haddad.

“We were not obligated to provide them for families, but we felt like we wanted to do that to help them avoid struggles,” Haddad said.

In a list of grants and collaborations SVVSD engaged in over the past year to address food insecurity, wellness and health throughout schools, Haddad highlighted the “One in a Melon” award given to SVVSD by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The award is only issued to one school district in the state, he explained, to recognize an exemplary “farm to table” program.

Earlier in the evening, several members of local parent group Engaged Latino Parents Advancing Student Outcomes, or ELPASO, spoke to the board regarding the issue of nutrition in school-provided lunches. Speaking with the aid of a district translator, SVVSD parent Lorena Garcia said the nutrition requirements were only meeting the bare minimum. Other speakers — Monica Polito and Carla Cardoza — echoed Garcia’s sentiments, suggesting the district bring in more locally sourced food and scratch-cooked meals throughout the nutrition services program.

Haddad addressed some of the parent concerns indirectly, indicating that the issues were ongoing and some required further consideration.

“We’ve partnered with ELPASO for many years and we’re looking forward to continuing that partnership,” Haddad said.