Please advocate for salad bars in SFUSD cafeterias
From Dana Woldow, parent volunteer chair of the SFUSD Student Nutrition and Physical Activity Committee:
As most of you know, Student Nutrition Services submitted two proposals for funding under the “third third” of Prop H money; one request was for the first of a four year cycle to pay for the Point of Sale (POS) swipe card system in every school, while the second request would fund the opening of 12 more salad bars next year, in addition to the 25 opened this year with one-time money from the Mayor’s Office.
This “third third” pot of Prop H money is separate from the pot which funds preschool, and the pot which funds sports, arts, libraries, and music, so the distribution of “third third” funds does not affect funding for those areas.
The good news is that the Superintendent has recommended funding both SNS proposals, but the bad news is that the Prop H committee, whose members are appointed by the BOE to make spending recommendations, approved the POS money but not the salad bar proposal. Please understand that as successful and popular as salad bars are, each one costs about $10,000 in equipment and installation to get started, and with SNS running a deficit which far exceeded $1 million last year, there is NO money in their budget to open any salad bars at all next year; if outside funding is not provided, the number of salad bars will stall at 25, leaving many schools which serve a primarily low income population without one.
Further bad news is that because of the dire predictions for the state budget, the Superintendent may even revisit his spending recommendations for Prop H, to see if there is any money which could be diverted to cover what is now projected to be a deficit of up to $20 million for the district next year. This could even imperil the POS funding, which both the Prop H committee and the Superintendent have endorsed.
Both the Superintendent’s recommended spending plan and the Prop H committee’s recommended spending plan are just that — recommendations. It is up to the BOE to craft the final spending plan, which is then sent to the Board of Supervisors for approval (and the BOS does not cherry pick the spending plan — they either accept it or reject it as is.) Given the current disastrous budget scenario for the state and the school district, it is more than ever the responsibility of the elected BOE members to consider all of the recommendations and then make the hard calls about what to fund with Prop H money.
I am asking you to please take a minute and write to the BOE members and to the Superintendent to urge them to fund these two SNS proposals (see addresses below). The POS system, when fully implemented, is expected to save $1 million a year for SNS, drastically reducing the SNS encroachment on the general fund and freeing up that money to cover some of the budget cuts anticipated from the state’s slashing of education funding. To fail to fund this vital piece of technology would be the very definition of “pennywise but pound foolish.”
Likewise, by increasing participation in school lunch programs (at Balboa HS, lunch participation increased 26%, nearly all low income students qualified for free meals), salad bars not only provide students with healthier lunch choices but also drive higher revenue for SNS, helping to pay down the deficit.
The BOE will take up the issue of Prop H spending at a committee of the whole meeting on Thursday January 17th, 5:30-7pm.
Please write to the BOE and to the Superintendent prior to that meeting, and if you can possibly attend the meeting and speak in support of the two SNS proposals, that would be enormously helpful. Anyone who can attend, please contact me at Nestwife@owlbaby.com ; I can also provide suggestions for what to say in your letter of support if you need help. Please share this message with everyone you know who cares about better food for our students, and thank you for supporting better nutrition for ALL of our students!
BOE e-mail addresses
Mark Sanchez SanchezM5@sfusd.edu
Jane Kim KimJ7@sfusd.edu
Kim-Shree Maufas MaufasKS@sfusd.edu
Eric Mar mare@sfusd.edu
Hydra Mendoza MendozaH@sfusd.edu
Jill Wynns Wynnsj@sfusd.edu
Norman Yee YeeN1@sfusd.edu
Superintendent e-mail CarlosGarcia@sfusd.edu
As most of you know, Student Nutrition Services submitted two proposals for funding under the “third third” of Prop H money; one request was for the first of a four year cycle to pay for the Point of Sale (POS) swipe card system in every school, while the second request would fund the opening of 12 more salad bars next year, in addition to the 25 opened this year with one-time money from the Mayor’s Office.
This “third third” pot of Prop H money is separate from the pot which funds preschool, and the pot which funds sports, arts, libraries, and music, so the distribution of “third third” funds does not affect funding for those areas.
The good news is that the Superintendent has recommended funding both SNS proposals, but the bad news is that the Prop H committee, whose members are appointed by the BOE to make spending recommendations, approved the POS money but not the salad bar proposal. Please understand that as successful and popular as salad bars are, each one costs about $10,000 in equipment and installation to get started, and with SNS running a deficit which far exceeded $1 million last year, there is NO money in their budget to open any salad bars at all next year; if outside funding is not provided, the number of salad bars will stall at 25, leaving many schools which serve a primarily low income population without one.
Further bad news is that because of the dire predictions for the state budget, the Superintendent may even revisit his spending recommendations for Prop H, to see if there is any money which could be diverted to cover what is now projected to be a deficit of up to $20 million for the district next year. This could even imperil the POS funding, which both the Prop H committee and the Superintendent have endorsed.
Both the Superintendent’s recommended spending plan and the Prop H committee’s recommended spending plan are just that — recommendations. It is up to the BOE to craft the final spending plan, which is then sent to the Board of Supervisors for approval (and the BOS does not cherry pick the spending plan — they either accept it or reject it as is.) Given the current disastrous budget scenario for the state and the school district, it is more than ever the responsibility of the elected BOE members to consider all of the recommendations and then make the hard calls about what to fund with Prop H money.
I am asking you to please take a minute and write to the BOE members and to the Superintendent to urge them to fund these two SNS proposals (see addresses below). The POS system, when fully implemented, is expected to save $1 million a year for SNS, drastically reducing the SNS encroachment on the general fund and freeing up that money to cover some of the budget cuts anticipated from the state’s slashing of education funding. To fail to fund this vital piece of technology would be the very definition of “pennywise but pound foolish.”
Likewise, by increasing participation in school lunch programs (at Balboa HS, lunch participation increased 26%, nearly all low income students qualified for free meals), salad bars not only provide students with healthier lunch choices but also drive higher revenue for SNS, helping to pay down the deficit.
The BOE will take up the issue of Prop H spending at a committee of the whole meeting on Thursday January 17th, 5:30-7pm.
Please write to the BOE and to the Superintendent prior to that meeting, and if you can possibly attend the meeting and speak in support of the two SNS proposals, that would be enormously helpful. Anyone who can attend, please contact me at Nestwife@owlbaby.com ; I can also provide suggestions for what to say in your letter of support if you need help. Please share this message with everyone you know who cares about better food for our students, and thank you for supporting better nutrition for ALL of our students!
BOE e-mail addresses
Mark Sanchez SanchezM5@sfusd.edu
Jane Kim KimJ7@sfusd.edu
Kim-Shree Maufas MaufasKS@sfusd.edu
Eric Mar mare@sfusd.edu
Hydra Mendoza MendozaH@sfusd.edu
Jill Wynns Wynnsj@sfusd.edu
Norman Yee YeeN1@sfusd.edu
Superintendent e-mail CarlosGarcia@sfusd.edu
Labels: SFUSD Politics
3 Comments:
I heard the salad bars were voted down because of a negative review from one student. That doesn't seem quite (wait for it) kosher. I hope the BOE will reconsider!
The number of students eating lunch in the cafeterias has increased at every school that has added a salad bar -- some by a large percentage -- so apparently the favorable reviews outweigh the negative. I wonder what school that student attends.
One student? That's pretty outrageous. No matter what you try to do, there will always be some people who won't like it.
In this case, if there are many students who do like to have a salad bar, does it really make sense to deny it to everyone just because some don't like it? It seems like many others do want it.
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