Garrison Branscum, a senior at Perryville High School, used to bring a sandwich from home for lunch; since the school menu changed two weeks ago, he’s eaten in the cafeteria every day.
He’s not alone — daily participation in the school-lunch program is up by about 200 students districtwide, administrators said.
The Perryville School District kicked off its new lunch menu Sept. 12 in a partnership with K-12 Culinary Connection of Magnolia.
“I think the school lunch is so much better now; it tastes more fresh, and there are so much more options,” Branscum said. His favorite so far has been baked rotini.
Students at the high school have a choice of made-from-scratch pizza every day, and two other choices, including baked fish, orange chicken with rice and steamed vegetables, beef tips and more. For the first time, a salad bar is available every day, and students can choose their vegetables and fruit.
Julie Doughty, the district’s food-service director, said high school students have three menu choices; elementary students get two. Both have daily salad bars with a variety of vegetables and seasonal fruit, she said.
“They love that salad bar, especially the little ones. Their little eyes light up,” she said.
She said the changes have made an immediate positive impact. Participation in school lunches has increased by 100 more students in the elementary school and 70 to 100 more in the high school.
“It is amazing,” she said. “The elementary was only serving 230 a day; now they’re serving 330. In the high school, we were serving 260 to 270; now it’s 330 to 360.”
Perryville School District patrons approved a 2.7-mill increase in the Sept. 19 school election, primarily to build a cafeteria.
Doughty said the district needed a larger cafeteria even before the increased participation in the lunch program.
“If it was rainy or cold outside, we were wall-to-wall kids, especially first lunch, with all the senior-high kids,” she said.
Doughty said Superintendent Walt Davis brought the new-menu idea to her last year after seeing a demonstration by K-12 Culinary Connection, led by chef Justin Mills, at the Arch Ford Education Service Cooperative in Plumerville.
The idea whet her appetite because she’d been looking for ways to improve the district’s lunches.
“I’ve been trying to change the food,” Davis said. “Over the course of the past three years, our numbers as far as students eating have really dropped; they’re bringing their lunch more and not wanting to participate in the program.”
Last year, 58 percent of students in the district qualified for free or reduced-price meals, “and most of them were bringing their lunches. They were tired of the food,” Doughty said.
The United States Department of Agriculture’s ever-changing guidelines make it difficult to provide tasty meals, she said.
“We had to take the salt out, so there goes your flavor,” she said. “There’s no deep frying, which is good for them, but you can’t get kids who are used to that to try other foods. You have fast-food junkies; they want something to pick up and go as quickly as possible.”
Doughty said families are busy, and many students are used to going to McDonald’s to get their meals.
“We can’t even do cookies anymore,” she said. “Once in a while, you can do whole grain, but you have to put wheat in. They don’t like it … things like that are really stickier with the guidelines.”
Davis said some school districts outsource their meals, but that option is too expensive for a small, 918-student district like Perryville.
The cost for K-12 Culinary Connection’s services is $45,000, Davis said. The district buys the food, but K-12 Culinary Connection buys food in bulk for its participants, he said.
“The savings on food’s almost covered that [cost]. It was very, very close,” he said. “We’re hoping the increased participation will offset it.”
Davis said the new menu has enticed him to eat in the cafeteria more often, too, as well as other faculty and staff members.
“It is terrific. I’ve eaten there four or five times. They’re doing a great job. The pizza is made from scratch, and it is phenomenal, phenomenal,” he said.
The team does use frozen pizza crust but adds the toppings and spices.
“I’ve eaten baked catfish. I was very nervous about that, but it was great,” Davis said, laughing.
Doughty said the pizza is definitely a hit. She said employees make 30 pizzas a day for the high school students and cut each pizza into eight slices. “I guarantee you we’ll sell every slice,” she said Tuesday.
Doughty said students don’t even notice the low-fat options used, such as the cheese.
“It’s spiced up. One of our board members, when [K-12 Culinary Connection] demonstrated at the board meeting last year, said he’d never had pizza anywhere that tastes that good,” Doughty said. “I’m a Pizza Hut lover, and to me, it ranks right up there.”
Lunch costs 40 cents for students who qualify for reduced-priced meals, and $2.75 for other students. Students can buy an extra slice of pizza for $2, “and they are big,” she said.
Davis said if the district just breaks even, he thinks the program is worth it.
“If students are excited about going to eat lunch and they eat a better lunch, it’s hard to imagine that won’t have a residual effect on better behavior, better academic performance,” Davis said. “That’s speculation, but I can’t see how that won’t be positive in all areas in the high school and elementary.”
Perryville High School Principal Kevin Campbell said he’s already seen a positive change in students’ behavior since the food has changed.
“It seems like our discipline issues have decreased,” he said. “We have no research to back this up, but it does appear that after lunch the kids are — I think they’re more alert. It gets them through the day better. Their afternoons are so much better. They don’t seem to be irritable and hungry. It seems like they’re more excited about eating lunch: ‘What are we having today?’”
Senior Hunter Lawrence said he’s always eaten in the cafeteria, but now he’s more enthused about the food.
“The food now, personally, it tastes much, much better than it used to be, and you’re more full after you’re done eating,” Lawrence said. The orange chicken has been his favorite thus far.
Branscum agreed that the food is more filling than before.
“I feel like it sticks with you more when you’re enjoying the food,” he said.
The superintendent praised the cafeteria staff for undertaking the changes and additional work.
“They’re doing a great job,” he said. “I’m really thrilled with the results so far, and the way our cafeteria staff has responded has been incredible. They have done a great job of being positive about it. I think it’s given us a lift around the campus.”
Doughty said she has a Wellness Committee meeting coming up soon.
“I’m truly excited; it’s the first time I feel like we’re making a good change,” she said.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached by calling (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.