Friday, March 29, 2024

CISD Launches New and Improved Lunch Options

Carroll ISD is announcing a new change that will begin this school year in cafeterias across the district. The Carroll Child Nutrition Program goes the extra mile to make school meals healthy and enticing for all students. Dragons will continue to enjoy well-balanced, nutritious meals on the menu, but will now be provided with more choices.

The cafeteria staff at Carroll schools works diligently every day to provide delicious and nourishing meals to any student in the district who wishes to purchase a lunch. Everything is cooked from scratch along with an assortment of fresh fruit and vegetables. According to Director of Child Nutrition Services Mary Brunig, it is the district’s hope for every student to come through the cafeteria line and see healthy food that they love to eat.

Her department lives by the motto, “They need to eat to learn; they need to learn to eat.” Brunig highlights the importance of food that sustains children throughout the school day to be successful in the classroom. She notes that students in Carroll ISD are highly active and require a hearty, well-balanced meal; the new policy will provide just that.

Parents and students in the Carroll community have voiced their concerns in the past regarding the restrictive lack of options in cafeterias. After conducting research including multiple surveys of students in the district, Carroll ISD responded to an overwhelming support of a trial one-year suspension of the National School Lunch Program.

Suspending the National SLP will allow Carroll more flexibility in making menu enhancements. Healthy options will continue to be a top priority. The Board of Trustees approved the move by a 6-0 vote in June. Brunig expects that with the change, more students will enjoy partaking in lunches provided by school cafeterias. She also anticipates that students will be happier with a greater number of healthy choices and less will food go to waste.

The biggest change that students in grades K-8 will see is the increased options of beverages when ordering a plate lunch. Instead of only offering milk, cafeterias will now be able to offer Dragons a choice of milk, juice or bottled water along with their plate lunch. “Not every child wants to drink milk with their lunch,” Brunig states from experience. With the new program, Dragons will now be able to choose what they want with fewer restrictions.

The change in the Carroll Child Nutrition Program will be a new implementation at every K-8 Carroll campus. Carroll Senior and Carroll High Schools have never participated in the National School Lunch Program.

Prices will slightly increase as is the national trend with other school districts. At the elementary and intermediate campuses, a hot-plate lunch will be provided for $2.75 which is an increase of 25 cents. These PK-6 campuses have not seen an increase of prices since 2009. At the middle and high school campuses, the charge will be $3 which is also a 25 cent increase. These four campuses haven’t increased lunch prices since 2004. Pricing of a la carte food items will only see minor adjustments in the coming school year. No price adjustments will be made for students who receive free or reduced-price lunches.

Brunig extends an invitation to every Dragon parent who wishes to visit a campus to dine with their child for lunch at the price of $3.

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