Fort Mill School District needs food service workers

The Fort Mill School District needs more food service employees to keep up with growth and nutrition guidelines, said Roland Cabading, student nutrition supervisor.

Currently, the district needs to fill 10 student nutrition positions to meet the immediate need, he said.

Cabading said while growth has increased the district’s need for food service staff, strict nutrition guidelines and training requirements under the federal Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 are also contributing to the challenge of filling open positions.

“It’s getting tougher to find individuals that are willing to work within the guidelines we have to implement here,” he said.

The guidelines call for more fruits and vegetables and made-from-scratch recipes, which require more prep time and hands on work from staff, Cabading said.

“We’re trying to move away from a lot of processed food,” he said. “It has been operationally challenging to make sure they follow the guidelines menu and prep wise.”

The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act’s new professional standards implemented in July also require staff to receive four training hours per year while management must get eight hours, Cabading said.

The training, which covers areas of nutrition, operation, communications and marketing and administration functions for leaders, includes tests to ensure the staff retain the information, Cabading said.

“It turns people away,” he said. “It forces an individual to be able to be cross-trained, not just to be a cook.”

Cabading said the district will face an even bigger challenge when the training requirement increases next school year. While the part-time staff requirement won’t change, full-time staff will need to get six hours and management will have to get 10 hours.

“It gets quite challenging to make sure you get that in depending on the menu being served,” he said.

Cabading said the district needs individuals who have the attitude and aptitude to learn, be flexible and are willing to participate with meal prep and follow the guidelines.

“It’s a little more than what we’ve had to deal with in the past,” he said.

The district’s starting wage for someone with no experience is $9.84 an hour, which falls in the middle of what other districts offer, Cabading said. That rate goes up with experience and certain skills. Most of the positions work on a four-hour schedule.

The shortage of student nutrition employees also affects the Rock Hill School District, said Jeffrey Clarke, general manager of on-site service solutions for Sodexo, which provides student nutrition services for the Rock Hill School District.

Clarke said Rock Hill has 15 openings in food services, and on any given day has a critical need for six employees.

“It’s an ongoing struggle,” he said.

Rock Hill starts part-time nutrition employees with no prior experience at $8.50 an hour, which though higher than minimum wage, is hard to compete with other businesses in the city, Clarke said.

“Everyone’s competing for the same pool of employees,” he said.

Another issue, Clarke said, is that the majority of open positions are part-time, with time off during the summer and school holidays. While good for some people, the limited hours are challenging for others.

“It’s getting harder and harder to fill the positions every summer,” he said. “We are constantly looking for people.”

Cabading said Fort Mill schools need more food service employees as they work to offer more choices to students and make lunches healthier.

“We want to offer something that appeals to all the kids,” he said. “That’s why we have so many choices.”

The nutrition program also helps develop health and awareness policies and works to help students make healthy choices, Cabading said. The program also operates on its own financially with no assistance from the district.

“School food service programs are a support system to the education process,” he said. “We are always looking for good people, especially if they like being around kids.”

Tammie Welch, district dietician and assistant student nutrition supervisor, said as the district grows, so will the employment opportunities.

“By being a part our team, you are directly impacting a child’s life,” she said. “This important contribution allows us to serve thousands of meals to hungry children every day.”

This story was originally published November 27, 2015 at 5:44 PM with the headline "Fort Mill School District needs food service workers."