As supply shortages pressure school cafeterias, Stanislaus districts rely on creativity
Superintendent Philip Alfano said he has struggled for years to explain to families what the term “supply chain and logistics” means.
Now, he said global shortages affecting all industries present a “golden opportunity” for Patterson Joint Unified School District to demonstrate how its Supply Chain and Logistics program can lead to well-paying, stable jobs in a crucial industry.
“It’s right in front of their faces,” Alfano said.
Though the program can’t fix current global supply chain problems, Patterson school officials hope that getting young people excited and prepared to work in the industry will contribute to a long-term solution.
In Stanislaus County, the supply chain crisis has trickled down to school cafeterias, where most students depend on free meals. Nutrition services directors said prices have doubled or tripled while orders arrive late, incomplete or not at all.
“To be clear, it’s been quite horrendous,” said Jason Beach, director of nutritional services at Oakdale Joint Unified School District.
Every item is “constantly in question,” Beach said. Last week, he placed an order for 150 cases of paper goods, he said. He received five.
Beach is developing new recipes to maximize the ingredients he can get. If he buys fajita chicken, for example, he’ll prepare quesadillas, enchiladas and tacos. He’s creating a tamale pie to take advantage of beef taco filling.
He’s driven to the Bay Area on weekends to search for plastic foam containers and to-go boxes. Soon, he expects to “wipe out” Costco and Save Mart.
“That’s going to affect the community, so it’s something I’m really trying to stay away from,” he said. “It’s probably going to have to happen eventually.”
If these problems persist, Beach said, he worries he won’t be able to put food on the table for children in need. The New York Times reported that the global shortages could last into 2022 and beyond.
“That scares me,” Beach said.
Districts get ‘creative’ to make meals
So far, districts have gotten by through reducing menu variety, expanding storage capacity and supplementing fresh meals with pre-made food.
In Modesto’s Stanislaus Union School District, Child Nutrition Director Vanessa Paulo said students miss their favorites: chicken nuggets, pancakes and corn dogs.
Paulo’s staff orders several weeks in advance to establish backup plans for those items that don’t come through.
“No matter what, at the end of the day, we’re going to get the students fed,” Paulo said. “We’re going to get them the nutrition they need to learn and grow.”
Over at Modesto City Schools, the county’s largest district, a 36,000-square-foot central production facility allows school leaders to purchase available items proactively, said Criss Atwell, senior director of nutrition services.
“While we’re impacted the same, we have maybe a little bit more advantage than some of the smaller districts in that we can buy in larger quantities, and we can store,” Atwell said.
To find trays and lunch bags, Patterson Joint Unified staff have resorted to Costco, where prices can be three or four times as much as the district would typically pay,” said Jeff Menge, assistant superintendent of administrative services. Staff even scoured the local dollar store for lunch bags, he said.
“We’ve tried to be creative,” Menge said.
He and other Patterson school leaders said their Supply Chain and Logistics program is a bright spot amid the challenges. “Hopefully we’re doing a small part to address the issue in the future,” Menge said.
Patterson program creates pipeline
Patterson started offering supply chain and logistics classes in the 2010-11 school year, according to spokesman Johnny Padilla. It was the first district in California to start a high school supply chain and logistics program as a Career and Technical Education pathway, Alfano said.
Students can go on to work at nearby warehouses and distribution operations including Amazon, Grainger, CVS Health and Restoration Hardware. The district partners with nearly 20 companies in Patterson, creating a pipeline from high school to industry.
CTE Director Kym Brinkman said 150-200 students enroll in the program at a time. Classes cover the supply chain, logistics, forklift operations and commercial truck driving.
On a recent Thursday afternoon, students wearing colored vests processed boxes of Crayola products and stacks of paper in a student-run warehouse for the district’s school supplies.
Teacher Glenn Ecalne organizes the class into three- or four-week rotations so students are exposed to the entry-level duties for each warehouse department. Students said they appreciate the hands-on learning.
“It gives us a taste of the real world,” junior William Miranda said.
Most students take the class so they can work and put themselves through college, said senior Amia Merritt. “It’s exactly what we’re going to be doing,” she said.
Simulators teach students the basics of operating forklifts and trucks. An outdoor facility lets students in the forklift operations class practice on equipment that mirrors what they’ll use professionally, teacher Larry Garcia said. For trucking, a separate program trains students to drive behind the wheel, teacher Dave Dein said.
At job fairs, students typically receive three or four offers on the spot, starting at $25 an hour, Alfano said. The industry supports education and training. Many companies reimburse students for college tuition and offer flexible hours, he said.
“There’s a lot of mobility in this industry,” Alfano said.
This story was originally published November 1, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
