PEPPER PIKE, Ohio — Fruit and yogurt smoothies will be on the menu at all buildings in the Orange City School District in the 2025-26 academic year.
Homemade pizza is also coming to the district, along with a taco bar, pasta bar and sub/wrap sandwich bar.
Those were some of the menu enhancements discussed during a food service update provided to the Orange Board of Education July 14.
In January, many
parents spoke to the board
about what they perceived as a lack of responsiveness from the district regarding its process for trying to improve the quality of school lunches.
In response to those concerns, a committee composed of parent leaders and district administrators was formed to discuss school lunch improvement, Superintendent Lynn Campbell said.
The group agreed to move forward with some assistance from a consultant, so the district hired Pisanick Partners in that role, Campbell said.
Pisanick Partners, based in Brecksville, is a consulting team of registered dietitians and nutrition professionals.
Maureen Pisanick, the firm’s chief nutrition officer and founder, spoke about the work her team has been doing in the district.
“Our goal is to enhance menu quality and incorporate healthier balance selections, boosting participation and satisfaction,” Pisanick said.
She is a dietitian who has worked in school food service for 21 years, including the past 13 years as owner/operator of her consulting business.
“We all know that hungry students cannot learn. They have to have food to fuel their day.”
Pisanick said her team has been working to bring “resources, tools, training and support” to Cindy Workman, the district’s food service supervisor.
“Another goal is to make the cafeteria an extension of the classroom through more nutrition education,” she said.
In a visit to the district in April, Pisanick Partners reviewed staffing and worked with Workman and her team “to analyze menu goals, parallel to the work the Wellness Committee was doing.”
The district had formed an ad hoc Wellness Committee — composed of 28 educators, parents, administrators and community members — focused on supporting student wellness, said Sheli Amato, the district’s director of curriculum.
“Our objectives were to diversify the menu, increase seasonality and focus on wholesome food and whole food produce items,” Pisanick said.
“We want to incorporate students more in the menu planning process, we want to invest in staff and equipment to maximize the sustainability of the menu quality and we want to update our menus to provide more scratch-made offerings — including fresh produce bars — so students have more opportunity to be engaged in their menu selections.”
Students enjoy homemade pizza
This past spring, Pisanick and her team trained the district’s staff on “new scratch-made, local whole-grain dough,” she said.
“In many districts around the nation — not only Orange — pizza is the No. 1 program seller,” she said.
“It (making their own dough) allows us to have maximum control in the quality of the ingredients, while controlling sodium and fat and not reducing flavor.”
Student reception to the homemade pizza was “really positive,” Pisanick said.
Also this spring, Pisanick Partners did a “smoothie try day,” she said.
“We were able to craft homemade smoothies and offer two different flavors to give elementary students the opportunity to say if this is something they’d like to see on their menu and was it tasty?” she said.
“I’m very proud of those two student days, and we were really excited about how excited they were about the process.”
A grant awarded by the American Dairy Association Mideast will allow the district to implement a smoothie bar this fall, Pisanick said.
“Professional development is key to what we do at Pisanick Partners,” she said.
As a partner with Cuyahoga Community College’s Corporate College in Warrensville Heights, Pisanick and her team used the chef’s table there to do hands-on culinary training with district staff this spring, she said.
“So it’s not just talking about menus; it’s making the food and working out the kinks before we launch it on the menu,” she said.
“We’re also looking at targeted equipment that will allow us to offer fresh options that are safe and in the temperature they need to be, such as cold fruit bars and warm bars.
“Those investments are being evaluated and purchased at this time.”
Another training session with Pisanick Partners is slated for district staff in August at Corporate College, Workman said.
“We love to empower the staff, and we’d love to continue to work with the district,” Pisanick said.
“I love a good social media campaign that really celebrates this to our community. We really want to sing some of the praises of what’s going on so parents understand, welcoming them to come to our cafeterias.”
Pisanick said in addition to the taco bar, pasta bar and sub/wrap bar, students can look forward to an Asian fusion bar, as well as some “savory winter seasonal switches,” such as a baked potato bar.
She added that an Eat the Rainbow produce bar is planned for “our littlest learners.”
“In general, all snacks at the elementary school will be compliant with no dyes and no high-fructose corn syrup,” she said.
“We’re also looking at protein-forward ‘brunch for lunch’ options, and we’re talking about fresh grab-and-go options, such as yogurt parfaits.”
More staffing needed in food service
Workman said the district started with the food bar concept this past school year, but was not able to fully implement it due to staffing limitations.
“I’m hoping that we get some people to apply this summer so we can do a lot more of the stuff that we want to do,” she said.
“We just don’t have the bodies to be able to make it happen.”
Workman said at the request of parents, snack options for elementary school students will be reduced next school year.
She added that carbonated juice beverages are being eliminated.
Workman said other goals for food service in 2025-26 include:
• Increasing participation in the free and reduced-price lunch program by providing additional exposure and access about how to apply for it
• Adding fruit and yogurt smoothies on the menu in all buildings
• Adding a fresh fruit/vegetable bar at Brady Middle School
• Continuing to increase healthier choices to all students by offering fruits and vegetables
• Continuing to offer items with less processing and limiting a la carte offerings at the elementary school to extra milk and juice and extra entrees only.
“We don’t offer canned fruit anymore,” Workman said. “We started that last year — fresh fruit only — and will continue that this year.
“We will continue to collaborate with students, families and administration to move toward a meal program that exceeds the requirements set forth by the NSLP (National School Lunch Program) as we strive to improve overall meal quality.”
Wellness Committee update
In addition, Amato presented a summary of the Wellness Committee’s work this year.
She said over the course of four meetings, the committee examined the district’s wellness policy, focusing on nutrition education, physical activity and other wellness initiatives.
In the area of nutrition education, the committee rated it at an average of 3.46 stars out of 5.
Opportunities for growth were identified in family engagement, cafeteria-based learning and professional development, Amato said.
To address these needs, the committee prioritized annual nutrition training for food services staff and better alignment between cafeteria offerings and nutrition education, she said.
Physical activity received an average rating of 4.52 stars, noting the district’s strong instruction, certified teachers and adherence to concussion protocols, Amato said.
A notable area for improvement was integrating more movement throughout the school day, she said.
For other school-based activities and nutrition promotion, the average rating was 4.58 stars.
“The district provides clean, attractive environments and complies well with the USDA promotion standards,” Amato said.
“However, members identified a need for greater variety and freshness in produce offerings.
“In response, the committee recommended making food choices more appealing and expanding access to fresh produce.”
No policy revisions were specifically recommended, Amato said, other than clarifying some language to prevent contradictions and better align district standards with federal guidelines.
“Thank you to everybody to being open for this kind of change in our district,” said board member Angela Arnold, a member of the Wellness Committee.
“I know there’s been a lot of communication and a lot of teamwork on this. I think this is landing in a really great place.”
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