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Consultant Cooks Up Lunch Recommendations for Haldane Cafeteria
Referendum vote is likely postponed
by Allison Dunne
Haldane Central School District officials need to spice up their cafeteria menus if they want to increase revenues for the lunch program. This was one of several recommendations that James Bigley, vice president of HMB Consultants, presented at the Board of Education’s December 5, 2005 meeting. The District has hired HMB Consultants to assess the lunch program after some discussion several months ago about financial worries surrounding the cafeteria.
Bigley has visited the Haldane cafeteria to assess the operation, which he described as, overall, well run. However, he said district officials need to increase revenues and decrease expenses. To attract more students, Bigley suggested revamping the repetitious menu with new items, such as homemade calzones, which would entail training the cafeteria staff in how to prepare such new items on a large scale. Bigley said the cafeteria staff seems cooperative and eager to try new things. School Business Official Meryl Rubinstein said that if the BOE were to implement Bigley’s plan for improvements, the staff would indeed require outside guidance, which could translate into an expense.
Bigley said simply adding condiments to some dishes could also peak students’ interest, and bring in extra lunch sales. For example, he suggested putting out grated parmesan cheese and dried red pepper for pizza, and serving jalapenos and salsa if tacos are on the menu.
He suggested bumping up a la carte items to meals, and, as such, charging a higher price. For example, he said adding a beverage and piece of fruit to a chef salad could qualify as a meal, and translate into both increased revenues for the child nutrition program as well as eligibility for state aid.
Bigley said cafeteria staff should consider putting together theme days, as he has seen theme days enjoy much success in other districts, for example, Italian Day, or Mexican Day.
Some Board members especially liked Bigley’s recommendation that an erasable menu board be set up so students are clear about what is being served daily. Board of Education Trustee Kathy Marino said putting a second board in the high school building would help.
Bigley said student participation in public school lunch programs for New York State averages around 52 percent, while the participation rate at Haldane is about 37 percent. The participation rate is for full meals. Bigley expressed confidence that Haldane could approach the state average by heeding his recommendations.
A slight annual hike in meal costs is preferable to a larger hike once every three years, said Bigley, who suggested an annual 10-cent increase. He also recommended that Haldane offer a pre-pay option, whereby, for example, if one purchases 40 meals, a student gets one free.
Another recommendation includes doing profit and loss statements three times a year, which would entail taking inventory of cafeteria items three times a year. He urged school officials and Board members to treat the child nutrition program as a business.
BOE members generally supported Bigley’s recommendations, though not formally. Bigley’s “Operational Assessment Report of the Child Nutrition Program” is posted on the home page of Haldane’s Web site, www. haldaneschool.org.
In other Board business, it seems the referendum vote on funding major capital improvement projects that was scheduled for February 13, 2007 will have to be postponed. School Business Official Rubinstein voiced concern about having to pass a Board resolution detailing the referendum (costs, and exactly for what projects) at least 45 days prior to the vote, meaning the Board would have to pass such a resolution at the next BOE meeting, scheduled for December 19. Rubinstein advised this is not enough time, and recommended pushing back the vote date to February 27, 2007.
She further suggested that the Board add a meeting for January 9, 2007 with the purpose of putting forth for a BOE vote a resolution with cost and project details.
Regarding the superintendent search, Trustee Marino said the Board of Education has approved a two-page vacancy letter, and that an ad for the position was scheduled to appear in the trade magazine “Education Week” for December 13, and would also appear January 13, 2007. She said that Focus Consulting, the firm hired to assist with the search was still receiving calls from area residents about whey they want to see in a superintendent, so completion of the community report had been pushed back to around December 8.
A new area for Haldane, as well as for other districts in New York, is the requirement to appoint internal auditors. As laid out early in 2006 by the District’s outside audit firm, the Board would have to appoint an auditor by December 31, 2006. Over the past several months, and with an Audit Committee in place charged with recommending an internal auditor, Cold Spring resident Airinhos Serradas was on hand during the BOE December 5 meeting, and recommended, on behalf of the Committee, Accume Partners. The price tag to start, he noted, would be $6,600 to perform a risk assessment. In addition, he said one test audit, as recommended by the Committee, should be carried out by the end of the school year, and would take the firm between 75 and 120 hours. He said the cost, at the high end, considering 120 hours, would be $21,582.
Serradas and Di Natale pointed out that this whole internal auditor function is new to school districts, and audit firms lack experience in the area as a result. After putting out a Request For Proposals, members of the Audit Committee received proposals from four auditors. All Board members voted in favor of hiring New York City-based Accume Partners, pending attorney review, to serve as the District’s internal auditors for the 2006-2007 school year, and to perform the risk assessment for $6,600. The Board also approved the recommendation that Accume perform one test audit for a cost to be determined later.
In other District happenings, the Field Trip Committee created in November by the Board is lacking faculty member volunteers. Di Natale reported that no teachers have come forward to serve and the Committee could not meet without teachers on board.
In other Board business, all BOE members voted to accept the donation in the amount of $1,125 from the Haldane PTA to support the appointment of a Ski Club advisor for the 2006-2007 school year. Furthermore, all Board members voted to appoint Steve Graff to the position of Ski Club Advisor for the current school year. Graff has been the Club’s advisor for some 30 years.
All Board members voted in favor of approving the amendment to the charge for the Code of Conduct Committee to include Susan Reid, Director of Athletics/ Physical Education & Dean of Students, as a member of the Committee.
From filling committees to filling the oil tanks, Cold Spring’s Pidala Oil is the company approved by all BOE members to supply heating oil for the 2006- 2007 school year; and Pidala was the only company, said School Business Official Rubinstein to respond to a request for bids. Rubinstein said she ran ads in this paper. Some suggested ads should be placed in other papers as well, such as in The Journal News, to expand the reach for potential bidders.
The next Haldane BOE meeting is a workshop scheduled for Tuesday, December 19 at 7pm.
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