PARKERSBURG - Wood County Schools officials are hoping for a smoother year with the food service program.
This marks the second year all of Wood County's public schools have had closed-campus lunches, meaning students must remain in the buildings or on campus during the lunch period.
Parkersburg South High School closed its campus last year after work was completed on its new cafeteria.
But Wood County Schools has seen sporadic complaints from parents and students over the last two years concerning the amount of food served in the high school cafeterias. Parents and students have addressed the Wood County Board of Education and written to local media saying the portion sizes are too small and in the high schools cafeterias run out of food before all students have eaten.
Superintendent Bill Niday said the issue of running out of an entree during a lunch period has been addressed and hopefully will not be an issue.
"I think we should have a much better handle on things this year," he said. "There was definitely an adjustment period last year."
"I think we definitely saw an improvement after we made some changes at the first of last year," said nutritionist and Food Service Director Beverly Blough. "We are working very hard to make sure every school has the same foods available from the start of the meal to the last child in line."
In those instances where schools did run short on food, it usually was in the area of one or two entrees.
"When they did run out, they ran out of the thing the students wanted the most. Often it was the most popular item, like pizza," Blough said. "Our goal for the whole year is don't run out at all."
The issue of portion sizes, however, may be here to stay.
"Some folks felt the portion sizes had been cut back and they hadn't," Blough said. "The portion sizes are really laid out by the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) and the federal program and there are some additional requirements from the state."
The federal and state requirements place limits on the calories allowed in meals and certain items, as well as whether those calories are due to fat content or sugar.
Blough said West Virginia also is one of only two states that do not allow meal items to be purchased ala carte. This was the main reason the school system eliminated the Super Meal option, which allowed students to purchase a meal with two entrees.
Students still have the option of purchasing a second full meal, but must pay cash and take all of the items offered for that meal. This year the school district increased the price of the second meal to help offset some of the costs, since those meals are not reimbursed through any state or federal programs.
Blough said the school system served about 8,000 meals on the first day of school, but will average about 11,000 meals a day throughout the year. On Friday, Parkersburg High School and Parkersburg South High School, the two largest cafeterias, served more than 1,000 meals each.
"We have seen an increase in the number of meals served, and we are seeing an increase in the number of parents applying for free- and reduced-price meal plans for students," Blough said, "so we do expect those numbers to continue to go up."
Blough said the food service department plans to expand its nutritional and educational programs this year, giving students more information on correct portion sizes and balanced meals.
"We continue to remind the students of what constitutes a well-rounded, healthy meal," she said. "We view the cafeteria as a classroom. This is where they can see a proper portion size. That is how much they should be eating, not the larger quantities we've all become accustomed to."
"Our expectation is this will be much better this year than last year," Niday said. "I believe, on a day-to-day basis, things go smoothly.
"There are always some exceptions, and we hope to minimize those exceptions."
