Jonathan Alder students are pictured waiting in line to be served lunch. Districts throughout the county are being impacted by supply chain issues, from shortages of pizza and chicken to Styrofoam trays. (Photo submitted)
Throughout Union County, school officials are getting creative to overcome supply chain issues and make sure students are fed.
Earlier this month, Fairbanks school officials learned they would not have milk for a day.
Food Service Director Lorri Mowery was able to quickly purchase several hundred cartons. The district found out, however, the milk could not be delivered.
Fairbanks Superintendent Adham Schirg said Maintenance Director Jim Clayton drove a district van to the dairy to get the milk in time to have it available for students.
Schirg said that while the story highlights the way staff works together, it also underlines the issues Fairbanks – and every district in the county – is facing.
Supply chain issues caused by production delays, labor shortages, a lack of transportation and a variety of other issues have caused problems on several levels. Some districts can’t get lunch trays. Others struggle to find cleaning supplies. Some problems are less obvious.
Officials said the lack of milk was caused by a broken machine at the dairy. Because the replacement part wasn’t available, milk couldn’t be packaged for distribution and districts were forced to scramble.
Schirg said Fairbanks is “seeing the same issues Marysville and all the districts are seeing.”
Marysville
Ryan Walker, director of operations at Marysville Exempted Village School District, said beef, lunch trays and utensils have been scarce.
The district works with Gordon Food Service (GFS) and Rightway Food Service to supply school meals like other area districts, which can create competition with a scarcity of resources.
“It’s an unfortunate situation,” he said.
For some resources, the supply chain has been disrupted.
“Even when we find a supplier, we’re still having trouble with delivery,” Walker said.
He explained that the food service staff has been working overtime to ensure students have nutritious meals, even being prepared to drive to pick up resources if there are delivery delays.
“Everybody’s working really hard to make sure the kids are taken care of,” Walker said.
He added that the food service staff has gone to Walmart for paper goods but it is not realistic to purchase materials at retail price.
“When you buy bulk from suppliers, it is half the cost,” he said.
He thinks in pre-pandemic times it was easy to take advantage of a surplus of trays.
“If you don’t have a tray, it really changes what you do for lunch,” Walker said.
If there is a silver lining in the supply shortage, he said it’s been inspiring to see food suppliers and school staffs working together to serve students.
At this time, Marysville schools have “been able to maintain a degree of variety” of lunch offerings. However, Walker said the school district is “at the mercy of what’s available.”
Walker explained that school families have been notified through a letter about meal options being limited.
Fairbanks
Schirg noted that many of the issues involve “things you don’t notice until they are not there.”
The superintendent said Mowrey, the district’s food service director, and others are constantly looking to “gap fill.”
“It is almost a week by week struggle to find a way to meet needs,” Schirg said.
He noted that, like the broken machine at the dairy, supply chain issues at a secondary vendor can compound issues in schools.
Schirg explained that the district has two buses that need repaired. He said it isn’t unusual for buses to be out of service for a period. However, the district isn’t able to get parts to fix the buses. With those busses down, the district has no margin for any other buses to break down or even be pulled out of service for routine and preventative maintenance. Adding to the worry, he said, is that district officials fear they will not receive delivery of the buses they order each year as part of a fleet replacement program.
“That is something we are definitely keeping our eye on,” he said.
Schirg said that most years, school officials know what problems will arise. He said this year has “brought different stressors than we have seen in previous years.”
He said a lack of supplies makes more work for employees at a time when they are already struggling with staffing.
“They build on top of each other and create stress points for daily operations across our district,” Schirg said.
Jonathan Alder
Supply chain issues are also hitting Jonathan Alder hardest in the lunchroom.
“Distributors are very candid, like, ‘We can’t do anything,’” JA Communications Coordinator Monica Leichtenberg said. “We’re all just kind of told to be patient.”
Leichtenberg said district families received a letter Oct. 15 alerting them of supply shortages and possible menu changes.
She said product availability issues have made it especially difficult to acquire food necessary for the planned menu.
“Our order can reflect one thing and what we actually get can be very different,” she said.
Leichtenberg added that food staff is now required to be much more creative and “think outside of the box” in order to use what is available to create a meal.
Aside from food itself, she added that trays are in short supply. JA now has to use clam shells, which are more expensive and create more waste.
Along with the supplies themselves, Leichtenberg said time is stretched thin, too.
Leichtenberg said food service staff generally spends “an hour or so” one day each week to place an order with GFS for the week’s food. Now, it is a “daily scramble” to evaluate what is out of stock versus what is on hand.
“(There are) many days having to start from square one over and over as they routinely come up short for a full meal,” she said.
Generally, Ohio school districts are required to follow meal standards established by the federal government.
Leichtenberg said food shortages caused by supply chain issues have made it nearly impossible to meet those standards. She said that the federal government has conceded that they cannot be enforced at this time because “subbing” out certain foods is necessary for meals to be served.
Jonathan Alder recently entered into a contract with the local Domino’s Pizza to “fill in where we lack,” Leichtenberg said.
She added that there have been times when “we have simply run out” of the food on the menu, but thanks to Domino’s, the district has not experienced a “true shortage.”
Aside from food, Leichtenberg said the district is experiencing difficulty obtaining parts and equipment for IT services.
Likewise, it took approximately eight months to receive a window that needed to be replaced. Leichtenberg said the district would generally expect it to take only “a week or two.”
North Union
“We are experiencing (supply shortages), but probably a little less than larger school districts,” said Bev Wasserbeck, North Union’s food service director.
North Union’s main food supplier is GFS. The district also uses Rightway as a backup supplier. Wasserbeck said she has used the backup supplier “as a way to control my prices” even before the pandemic and recent supply chain issues.
Currently, North Union’s Food Service Department struggles to obtain processed food items, such as pizza and chicken nuggets. As a result, the department is purchasing alternative brands of pizza, sometimes at a higher cost.
North Union’s supply of milk and bread has been sufficient. One day, the school almost ran out of chocolate milk from Smith Dairy because a line brown down at the plant. The milkman happened to have a truckload before the line broke down that he was able to bring to the school.
In addition, the meat supplier’s line broke down and the part needed to repair the line is not available, resulting in less or no beef for school lunches.
Fruits and vegetables are provided through a government program, using commodity dollars.
“We’ve reverted back to doing a few things on our own,” Wasserbeck said.
However, more “homestyle cooking” requires more labor when there is also a labor shortage nationwide because of the pandemic. Fortunately, Wasserbeck said she has ample cooks and substitutes.
“A lot of districts cut staffs last year when they were uncertain,” she said. “We did not. We were able to keep them.”
She added that her “staff has been really resilient.”
“I’m really lucky to have that,” Wasserbeck said.
Wasserbeck also said that Styrofoam bowls and food trays are in limited supply because of a shortage of resin used to produce Styrofoam.
She said she has considered buying paper products at a Kenton-based company.
Many schools have limited options for lunch, but Wasserbeck said North Union continues to offer three options every day, including a hot meal, salad or a sandwich (peanut butter and jelly, turkey, or grilled cheese).
“I hope we never have to get to that point,” Wasserbeck said about limiting options.
Slight changes have been made to the school’s menus “when supply doesn’t come through,” she said.
North Union Superintendent Richard Baird added that the district is waiting for HVAC parts and cleaning supplies that are delayed because of supply chain issues.
Triad
Triad officials are also working to stay flexible as food orders are affected by supply chain issues.
Director of Operations Neil Laughbaum said there are “weekly complications” when placing food orders with GFS.
Staff frequently places an order and finds out several days later that a number of items are not in stock, resulting in a “last minute spree” to find replacements, Laughbaum said.
“Everyone knows that they have to stay flexible,” he said.
Director of Operations Secretary Traci Perry said several lunch “staples,” like pizza and chicken, are regularly unavailable.
Even so, she said the lunch menu “doesn’t change that often.” In the case that it does, she said students usually know “at least half a day” in advance.
Superintendent Vickie Hoffman said the relative stability is in part due to the district’s middle school food service committee, through which staff and students test and approve menu items.
She said their feedback has “opened up what we can feed” and given the district more menu options to rotate through.
Likewise, Hoffman said the high school always has two options. Even with the supply shortages and delays, she said at least one expected option is available to them.
Laughbaum noted that Triad has never encountered an issue in which they have run out of food to feed students, even under the COVID-related requirement that all students must be offered free lunch.
Hoffman said most families and students are understanding of potential shortages and menu changes.
“I think we’re all just thankful we’re getting students fed for free,” she said.
Laughbaum said the district has been able to navigate shortages without opening up to other suppliers.
He noted, though, that Triad is “spending a whole lot more” than usual in food costs.
Hoffman said the five-year forecast accounts for a yearly increase in food prices and integrated “a little cushioning” for further increases due to the pandemic.
Still, Perry said she is grateful that things seem to be “getting a little better.”