Clark County schools staying the course on healthy meals

Despite federal changes to school lunch requirements recently announced by the Trump administration, Clark County School District officials are vowing to make what they serve to students healthier than ever.

Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue recently announced three changes to rules under the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, which was geared toward making school lunches healthier. The Obama administration further tightened restrictions on sugar, fat and sodium, but Purdue’s announcements rolled those back slightly.

It’s unclear so far how that will play out nationwide, but in Las Vegas, the focus remains on providing good, nutritious food for kids.

“We don’t plan on anything changing,” said Christina Saheb, a dietician with the district. “I think we offer a really good variety.”

‘Compete or beat pizza’

The district, which serves 105,000 breakfasts a day and 165,000 lunches, must face a few universal truths in trying to appeal to kids’ appetites.

“We’re always trying to compete or beat pizza. It’s what the kids go to,” said food service department director David Wines.

Truth No. 2 is that it’s possible to make even unhealthy choices like pizza a bit less deleterious.

Under the restrictions, the district is still able to serve two different pizzas, both of which use reduced-fat cheese and other more healthful ingredients.

For breakfast, the district makes 40,000 cinnamon rolls in-house each day, complying with the sugar requirements prescribed by the federal government.

“It can be done,” Saheb said.

But it’s not all about shaving a few calories or carbohydrates from poor choices.

At the secondary level, every middle and high school now has a salad bar daily, and they’re growing in popularity, department officials said. A traveling salad bar also visits elementary schools by request.

To feed so many hungry students, the district tends to order by the truckload and plan months in advance. The district’s warehouse — near Las Vegas Motor Speedway — holds $8 million to $12 million worth of food on any given day.

Although there’s a challenge serving so many students each day, the sheer number of mouths to feed also lets the department innovate and test new foods or services. The now-standard salad bars were phased in slowly to gauge interest.

Keeping up with some of the latest food trends can be more difficult, because of the intense planning and ordering process the district uses, said Lory Hayon, a dietician.

“What’s popular today may not be popular next month,” she said. “For kids, it’s pretty much the trends you see happening outside schools.”

A central service

The food service department is unlikely to be affected by the district’s current budget shortfall or the state-mandated reorganization.

In terms of budget, the department operates outside the district’s general fund — a common setup for school districts, since food service revenue is driven by fees and reimbursements from the federal government.

When it comes to the district reorganization, which aims to put more decision-making into the hands of principals and school communities, Wines said it’s likely schools will stick with the school district for meals. In theory, schools could eventually take the money spent on food services and hire an outside vendor to feed the masses.

“We have constant contact with school administrators,” Wines said, adding that the department places a premium on customer satisfaction. “We’re not the same as textbooks or services. There’s a lot of dynamics and nuances.”

Contact Meghin Delaney at 702-383-0281 or mdelaney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @MeghinDelaney on Twitter.