PENDER COUNTY — One local school district has accumulated millions of excess dollars in its nutrition fund over the last several years, but it is hoping this year it can reduce that surplus by investing in capital and employee wage improvements.
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At its Dec. 10 meeting, the Pender County Board of Education heard an update from its school nutrition staff, who reported the district has in excess of $2 million it needs to allocate. The surplus has existed for the last three school years, with each year requiring a “spend down plan” per North Carolina Department of Public Instruction guidelines.
The plan includes several improvements. Requests for proposals have been scheduled to open in January for new serving lines at Surf City Elementary, South Topsail Elementary and Rocky Point Elementary, estimated at $675,000. Other equipment purchases include a new warmer at Pender High School ($4,500), nine countertop refrigerators ($6,000) and five lug carts and 19 totes ($2,000).
The district has also posted a maintenance position with a salary set at $60,000, though no one has applied yet.
Wage increases are scheduled for workers of Aramark, the company that oversees Pender County Schools’ nutrition services. Because they are not state employees, this group was working alongside employees making at least $15 an hour; a wage increase of $1.50 will put Aramark’s employees on par with PCS’s. The increases will cost the district $200,000 (wages plus benefits) per year.
According to PCS Chief Financial Officer Lisa Nowlin, nutrition services has been bringing around $800,000 in surplus each year, mainly due to the district’s participation in a government program targeted at low-income families.
“We are in better financial shape than most districts in the entire state,” Nowlin said.
Port City Daily asked PCS what caused it to have a child nutrition surplus higher than others in the state.
“Pender County Schools has achieved a surplus in its Child Nutrition program through a strong partnership with NCDPI School Nutrition and our food service management company,” Nowlin shared through a PCS spokesperson.
She elaborated that the collaboration with the state allowed PCS to expand the Community Eligibility Provision in 15 of its 19 schools. The provision is part of the federal child nutrition program that allows for the nation’s highest poverty and districts to serve breakfast and lunch at no cost to all enrolled students without collecting household applications. Districts are reimbursed based on the percentage of students eligible for free meals based on other government programs.
Nowlin said the expansion has increased meal participation by 116,000 meals over two years, leading to the surplus.
However, school board member Don Hall was not as thrilled by the success of Pender County Schools’program.
“I think most of the public, everyone in here, knows a lot of our kids, in some cases school lunch or breakfast is the only food they get,” Hall said at the Dec. 10 meeting. “So what that amounts to is, we’re making a profit off of these kids and I have a real problem with that.”
He also took issue with the lack of speed in which the district has spent down the money over the last few years. Nowlin said NCDPI prefers a district to spend down surplus in one year’s time.
According to Nowlin, the 2021-2022 plan “could not be fully realized” due to staffing and departmental transitions during the 2022-2023 school year. The 2022-2023 spending plan never came together due to an error in the financial report.
Completed projects as part of previous years’ plans include a new “pizza palace” at Pender High School and other cafeteria upgrades totaling $276,910. Some items were delayed, including the serving line at Surf City Elementary (included in the new plan), a two-door upgrade for Topsail Middle School (not pursued due to a change in serving line needs), and side tables for serving lines (ordered and received in the 2023-2024 school year).
In response to Hall’s concerns, Nowlin reminded the board that nutrition services are required to be self-sustaining and costs half-a-million dollars each month to operate.
“So we have to be sure we continue at least that profitability,” Nowlin said.
Hall questioned if the excess funds could be used to improve food quality, noting everyone is aware of inflation’s toll on food prices. Nowlin said the per-student budget for meals is $1.70. To increase that by 50 cents would cost the district around $420,000 for the rest of the year; 35 cents would be around $300,000. Hall proposed the board approve the latter option, which received unanimous agreement.
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