Hamburgers and spaghetti were the topic of discussion at Monday night’s USD 257 school board meeting. An OPAA food representative came before the USD 257 Board of Education to show the company’s different food options for the district.
Steve Adams, OPAA business development adviser, told board members that OPAA specializes in home-style cooking and baking. OPAA is a family owned business. Its home office is in Chesterfield, Mo.
“We work with 101 districts in Missouri and 14 in Kansas,” Adams said.
Adams provided three different menus for different grade levels. Students would have multiple options on the menu during breakfast and lunch hours.
The company helps district staff members with monthly staff training and has developed partnerships with big retailers like Tyson Foods.
Adams said the district would still have control over menus and would set meal prices, control revenue streams, and set procedures and policies.
Angie Linn, curriculum director, informed the board about a testing program called Smarter Balance that could possibly replace standardized testing. It is aligned with the Common Core curriculumn. Smarter Balance will ask schools within Kansas to pilot the test before it is released.
Linn said USD 257 has signed up in hopes to be one of the districts that will pilot the new testing style.
“Administrators and teachers have showed interest in taking this test,” Linn said. “We don’t know who will take it though.”
Smarter Balance will choose which schools and classrooms in the district will take the test. This could mean a class in Jefferson Elementary could pilot the test or a class at Lincoln Elementary could be chosen. The district won’t know if they have been chosen until next month.
In other news:
– The elementary schools are preparing for their Halloween parades on Thursday.
– The Iola Marching Band will compete at Southern Plains Marching Festival on Wednesday.
School board talks food services
