With the impending new food service management team coming to the Salisbury School District at the beginning of the school year, Southwest Foodservice Excellence Chef Dustin Seymour attended the Aug. 7 operations meeting to speak to members of the board and address any concerns.

Seymour, who relocated from Austin, Texas, said SFE will begin working with the Salisbury staff Aug. 23 to prepare the kitchens. The actual food service training with SFE’s corporate staff will begin Aug. 25 with Salisbury’s management staff in session for the full day and the remaining food service staff in session for a half day. SFE teams will be at every school in the district and will begin with the “basics” of cooking. New menus have been completed and will be posted on the district website.

“Along with the posting on the website, there will be a blog post in the next several days and links in the monthly newsletter,” Superintendent Dr. Randy Ziegenfuss said.

In order to keep a pulse on the student’s reaction to the new service, SFE will obtain feedback from Salisbury’s food service staff, responses from student comment cards and form focus groups to monitor satisfaction. Seymour reminded the board Salisbury’s satisfaction is of the utmost importance and, with over 60 different menu options, SFE believes they can achieve that goal.

Director Joseph Gnall suggested pulling the parent’s viewpoints on SFE’s food into the mix.

Ziegenfuss replied getting the parent’s input could be achieved through the PTA, PTO, Coffee and Conversation meetings and surveys.

Business Administrator Robert Bruchak added that per the contract, as well as a state requirement, a food service committee must be formed including parents, teachers and students to meet periodically to discuss the food service.

Along with the new menu, each cafeteria in the district will be revamped to help guide students to the different food service stations. Each station will have signage and the service stations will be wrapped to indicate the choices at that particular station. Two 55-inch televisions will be mounted side by side in each cafeteria – one to display informational programming concerning SFE’s menu offerings and nutrition and the other will display educational and promotional information.

The Nutrislice app will also be introduced to students and their parents. The app will display menu options, nutritional information and allow students to order their lunch choices online. Pre-ordered lunches will be available at the middle and high school levels at a station in the cafeteria designated for pre-ordered lunch pickup.

The board opted to purchase the televisions at cost, outside of SFE’S package, and have SFE provide the signage, marketing materials and the Nutrislice app at a cost of $23,359 for the first year and $14,000 annually for a period of four years. Initially, the money for marketing the new lunch program will come from the district’s reserves. Bruchak said as the school year progresses, the board will re-examine the budget.

“On behalf of the board, we are all excited for the start of the new year and the great things to come,” Director George Gatanis said.

Bruchak said since the contract had been signed with SFE, the U.S. Department of Agriculture made some minor changes which required a slight reworking of the contract. Bruchak reported SFE didn’t have any issues with the rewording and signed the updated version of the contract.

The district’s facilities’ crew is also gearing up for the new school year. Director of Maintenance, Buildings and Grounds William Brackett gave the board a report of improvements needed and those completed.

The tennis courts at the middle school have been improved with a new surface for play. Brackett reported the improvements also included fencing around the courts changed from chain link to a fabric mesh.

The board plans on reaching out to the public works department in the township to examine options on securing the courts on weekends.

Other improvements at Salisbury Middle School include new furniture for the main office and students and new flooring.

Asphalt work has been completed at Harry S Truman Elementary School, the administration building and Salisbury High School.

Fencing projects have been completed to the rear of HST and at the middle school.

Brackett said new security door handles and an exchange of the security system at the doors were installed at SHS.

At Western Salisbury Elementary School, a new swingset bay with two swings was installed over the summer.

While preparing for the beginning of the school year, Brackett said the facilities crew determined one of the four air conditioning units in the high school cafeteria had stopped working and cannot be repaired. Brackett noted the unit is approximately 20 years old. One of the other units is also not currently working, but can be repaired. The board decided the best option would be to replace two of the units with similar overhead units at a cost of $17,000 per unit.

Gnall asked when the units could be replaced if Brackett were to order them immediately. Brackett replied because the units are ordered per specific measurements, once ordered they would probably not be able to be installed until sometime in October. Furthermore, Brackett said installation of the units would have to be done after school hours. The remaining two units will be replaced after the school season has ended.

Another improvement needed in the district is replacement of the booster pumps at the middle school. One of the two pumps has failed, while the other pump is still working but in need of repairs. Replacement of the pumps, the control panel and the isolation valves will cost $47,000. The booster pump project will take place in phases, some prior to the school year and some repairs shortly thereafter.

The board is examining a Visitor Management Program. The $20,000 program would require visitors to wear an ID tag generated from a photo ID and, depending on the level of the program, would include the capability to run background checks at an extra expense.

Gnall stated it would be prudent for the security of the students to include the background check option in the program.

The board questioned how far the background checks should go and suggested a policy be written if that option is chosen.

“It’s all about the safety of the kids and if we have the tools to protect our students, why not do it,” Gnall asked.

“It would be interesting to see what King Spry has to say about the level of background checks,” Board Vice President Samuel DeFrank said.

The board opted to go forward with ordering the hardware for the program and will hold subsequent discussions with legal council, faculty, administrators and parents to determine to what extent the district will use the background check feature.

The district has applied for a Safe Schools Grant to fund the program.

In other business, Bruchak addressed the board and said in order to get reimbursement from the commonwealth, the board agenda for the next meeting will include a requirement vote on PlanCon K and will require board approval. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, “When a school district undertakes a major school construction project and seeks reimbursement from the commonwealth, a process known as PlanCon is initiated. PlanCon, an acronym for Planning and Construction Workbook, is a set of forms and procedures used to apply for Commonwealth reimbursement.” Bruchak noted currently the district is making large payments on the 2013 bond issue and, in 2021, the payment will increase and the reimbursement from the state will increase dramatically.