Others Present: See attached list.

Ms. Fields asked how much time teachers have to complete their credential requirements. Mr. Sutherland replied that the process can take anywhere from one semester to three or four years. As long as teachers continue in the program and meet the guidelines by completing at least six semester units or nine quarter units during that year, they can renew the waiver request.

The communication was approved for transmittal to the Board of Education on November 3, 1997.

Mr. Koch announced that Mr. Robert Hamm, Director, Food Services Branch, was unable to attend the meeting. Mrs. Valenzuela-Smith was the interim Director of the Food Services Branch before the appointment of Mr. Hamm. This presentation was postponed from the Committee's agenda on September 18, 1997, so that Ms. Fields could be in attendance.

Mrs. Valenzuela-Smith announced that Food Services Branch has adopted a logo. For many years, the Business Division has been benchmarking its practices and performance with those of people in comparable industries. The private sector has taught staff that the District needs to market itself and its product, both to the internal and external customers. Mrs. Valenzuela-Smith presented the Committee members with a T-shirt and an apron that had the logo imprinted on them. The logo will be used on letterhead stationery, business cards, and on cafeteria staff's shirts, aprons, and caps.

Mrs. Valenzuela-Smith stated that today's presentation will include discussion of the following:

€An overview of the operations of the District's Food Services Branch.
€The nutrition practices utilized by the food services program.
€Regulatory guidelines and menu planning methodologies utilized by District nutrition specialists.

Mrs. Valenzuela-Smith reported that the Food Services Branch runs the largest breakfast program in the nation. Food Services Branch serves 216,000 breakfasts a day and runs the second largest lunch program in the nation. Last year, over 121 million meals were served. The food services program is totally self-supporting. This District is the only one in California and probably in the nation where the food program does not encroach on the District's general fund.

There are 431 preparation kitchens for preparing the food on site. All secondary schools and many elementary schools have preparation kitchens. There are 292 schools and children's centers where there is not enough space to have a full-service kitchen. Instead of those children having bag lunches and cold cereal everyday, many years ago the Newman Nutrition Center was built where food is prepared. Approximately 86,000 meals are prepared each day, refrigerated, placed on refrigerated trucks, delivered in the middle of the night, and placed in refrigerators at the schools. The next day the meals are warmed by the cafeteria site staff and served to the children.

There is a staff of nine nutritionists who plan the meals, test products, develop new products, and are responsible for staying on top of the nutrition of the children and new developments in the field.

Last year, the Food Services Branch purchased six million gallons of milk, 6.5 million burritos, and 1.8 million turkey dogs. Turkey has been substituted in a number of products. There is a turkey chili, a turkey sloppy Joe, and turkey dogs. More than three million chicken patties, an equivalent number of chicken nuggets, and 2 1/2 million pizza wedges are purchased per year.

During 1996-97, 686,000 meals, including a la carte meals, were served. The number of meals served is rising in proportion to enrollment. It is expected that 10% to 14% additional meals will be served this year. During 1996-97, 575,000 (93%) of the meals served each day were free to the students. The free and reduced price meal is a Federal program where students or families are eligible for the program based on income criteria. Anyone whose family is on Aid to Families with Dependent Children or a similar type of program is automatically eligible and other low-income families are also eligible. Another 12,000 students were served per day with reduced-price meals and approximately 31,000 students per day with full-price meals.

Last year, 82% of the Cafeteria funds ($164 million) came from the Federal government in the form primarily of meal subsidies to those children on free and reduced-price meals; 6% ($11 million) came from the State in similar type of subsidies; and 12% ($25 million) from local sources, which is mostly from sales in the cafeteria.

Ms. Noelting stated that the National Academy of Sciences and the Heart Association publish recommendations that set the recognized standards for good nutrition. They cover the issues surrounding fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium. The values expressed are for daily intake and not for individual products. The National Academy of Sciences developed the dietary guidelines for Americans which, since 1994, the District is mandated to follow in preparing the school lunch program. Specifically, they recommend that there be a variety of foods; utilize more grains, fruits, and vegetables; use products that are lower in fat, lower in saturated fat, and low in cholesterol; moderate salt and sodium usage; and that youngsters have some type of physical activity.

The National Academy of Sciences and the Heart Association recommends the following dietary allowances:

€The maximum calories from fat is 30% which equates with 67 grams of fat per day.
€No more than 10% calories from saturated fat.
€Less than 300 miligrams of cholesterol per day.

The Food Services Branch tries to have one-third of the calories coming from the lunch program and one-fourth of the calories coming from the breakfast program.

Menu planning includes the USDA menu patterns that are supplied by the Government. The USDA specifies not only the number of servings that are required but also the amount that constitutes a serving for breakfast and lunch for the meat/meat alternate portion of the meal, the bread portion of the meal, fruit, vegetable, and milk. District nutritionists develop specific menus from these guidelines, and the menus are based on meeting the USDA requirements, Board approved nutrition practices, and student surveys.

The Board-approved nutrition practices include the following:

€Increase wheat bread products to over 70% usage.
€Reduce and eliminate certain additives.
€Eliminate the heavy syrups that fruits are often packed in and use only fruits packed in their own juice.
€Increase the use of unflavored milks.
€Meet the USDA dietary guidelines for caloric intake of fat.
€Promote the use of fresh fruits and vegetables.
€Develop desserts that have a nutritional component, such as peanut butter, whole grains, and fruits.
€Use natural cheeses and processed cheese in lieu of cheese food.
€Serve cold drinks that contain 100% fruit juice.
€Reduce sodium.

The following sample menus meet these guidelines:

For breakfast, the youngsters can elect to have the hot breakfast of French toast and syrup, or they can have cereal and graham crackers to go with their juice and their 1% milk.

At lunch time, the youngsters can select either a chicken patty or a hamburger that is served on a wheat bun with potato tots, canned peaches in their own juice, and 1% milk.

For these menus, the percent calories from fat are 23.02% and 8.18% from saturated fat.

Additional sample menus include the following:

For breakfast, the youngsters can select to have the hot breakfast of sausage in a blanket, or they can have cereal and graham crackers to go with their juice and their 1% milk.

At lunch time, the youngsters can select either a deep dish pepperoni pizza or a green chili burrito along with a fresh orange, fresh fruit juice bar, and 1% milk.

For these menus, the percent calories from fat are 28.16% and 11.57% from saturated fat.

Every year, new products are introduced in order to keep variety in the menu, stimulate student interest, take advantage of the commodity offerings, and reflect changes in the Federal guidelines.

Ms. Chinnock presented the Committee members with samples of new products which included vegetarian chili, vegetarian calzone, and a low-fat chocolate chip cookie.

Mr. Kiriyama asked what students pay for breakfast and lunch. Ms. Noelting replied that the
elementary student pays 85¢, and the secondary student pay $1.50. There is a discount program for the secondary students in which they can buy five tickets at a time, and the lunch then costs $1.00.

Mr. Varon presented Budget Services and Financial Planning Division Communication No. 2 recommending the following nonroutine budget transfers:

1.A transfer of $254,211 to establish the Class Size Reduction (CSR) Team to develop and address the staff development requirements of the CSR Program for Kindergarten to Grade

3. The ongoing cost for these positions if $361,419 and will be funded from ongoing revenues for the State Class Size Reduction program for Kindergarten to Grade 3.

4.A transfer of $41,160 to fund a Media and Material Assistant position in the Professional Development Collaborative. This position will be funded from monies allocated to the Professional Development Collaborative as part of Critical Funding Issues II adopted on June 16, 1997. This position will provide continuous support in VHS duplication from classroom usage, which includes New Teacher Orientation and all other professional development conferences. This budget transfer is limited to 1997-98 only.

5.A transfer of $51,856 for the establishment of one central office position for the Translations Unit. This position will be funded from the monies allocated by the Board to the Translations Unit as part of Critical Funding Issues II, adopted on June 16, 1997. This budget transfer is limited to 1997-98 only.

6.A transfer of $171,523 to provide additional resources for the implementation of the Medi-Cal Administrative Activities (formerly Senate Bill 910, Medi-Cal Administrative Claims). Projected revenues of $4.4 million from this program was included in the 1997-98 Adjusted Final Budget. Current budgeted expenditures for this program total $235,174. Medi-Cal Administrative Activities provides reimbursement for services such as full time Medi-Cal Outreach. This budget transfer is ongoing for as long as sufficient revenues are generated from the Medi-Cal Administrative Activity.

In response to an inquiry raised by Mr. Kiriyama, Ms. Bradstock replied that Medi-Cal Advocates work with school-based staff and volunteers in assisting parents in overcoming some of the barriers to enroll their children in Medi-Cal.

7.A transfer of $70,897 to provide ongoing funding for one Personnel Analyst position in the Classified Personnel Selection and Training Branch to conduct recruitment activities and develop and administer personnel assessment procedures for vacant positions in the Information Technology Division (ITD). The keen competition that exists in the marketplace for highly skilled applicants in the fields of data processing coupled with ITD's escalating number of vacancies and the need to rapidly fill them is depleting the Branch's resources. Currently, 31 examinations are being administered for ITD. The Year 2000 project is expected to heighten the demand. This position would be charged with the full time responsibility of addressing ITD's staffing needs in a rapid cost efficient manner and enable the Branch to redirect resources to local school needs. The ongoing cost of this transfer is $70,897 and will be funded from existing ITD resources.

The communication was approved for transmittal to the Board of Education on November 3, 1997.

Mr. Varon presented Budget Services and Financial Planning Division Communication No. 1 proposing the establishment of a revolving account for the Career Ladder Program and any unspent balances be carried over into the succeeding years.

The Career Ladder is running a number of programs for which money is collected. They offer a practice California Basic Educational Skills Test (CBEST) examination, a CBEST preparation seminar, and a Multiple Subjects Assessment for Teachers preparation seminar. Money collected from the Career Ladder participants is used to cover the cost of materials received, or as a refundable deposit which is used as a motivational tool to assure that the participant completes the class. Fees collected from the public are set at a level slightly above the cost with the extra used to help defray the cost of classes offered free to Career Ladder participants.

The projected revenue from the above program for fiscal year 1997-98 is $59,055. Expenditure authority will be provided to the Career Ladder Program as fees are collected. No additional staff will be required in connection with the revolving fund.

In response to a question raised by Ms. Fields, Mr. Brandick replied that the Career Ladder was a District program, and there are 4,000 participants in the program. The program is open to all Unit B and F employees.

The communication was approved for transmittal to the Board of Education on October 20, 1997.

Ms. Hemingway reported that the purpose of Open Enrollment is to allow eligible employees and retirees to change their medical, dental and/or vision plans. It also provides an opportunity for employees and retirees to receive important benefit information and to reassess health care needs.

Over the last few years, the number of plan changes has varied significantly. The extremely high number of changes in 1994 is due to the major plan changes which occurred (i.e., Blue Shield to Blue Cross and the addition of Prudential dental).

The Open Enrollment process has changed over the years. It used to be an entirely manual process in which employees completed paper enrollment forms, and the Health Insurance staff manually entered each request for a change into the benefits computer system. There were a number of drawbacks‹time consuming, data entry errors, staff unavailable to assist callers, and overtime costs.

The automated telephone enrollment system was implemented for active employees in 1995. Using a touchtone telephone, employees call a toll free phone number; enter Social Security number and employee number, verify their enrollment, and make plan changes, including enrollment in or changes of amounts to their flexible spending account program. The system is available 24 hours a day during the entire Open Enrollment period.

In early 1996, the Health Insurance Section conducted a survey to assess how employees felt about this method of enrollment and to identify any necessary improvements. The survey results revealed that 91.9% recommended the continued use of the automated system, and 83.2% rated the system easy to very easy to use. The following improvements were made to the system: (1) simplified spoken script; (2) added additional verification step to reassure employees that the change had occurred which reduced the number of repeat phone calls; and (3) increased frequency of mailing written confirmation statements.

There has been a dramatic reduction in overtime costs. In 1993, the overtime cost was $60,000. In 1995, the overtime cost was $7,800 and for 1996, it was $7,700.

For 1997, the Open Enrollment period will be November 1 through 23 for active employees. For retirees, it will be the entire month of November since retirees must use the paper enrollment process. The Health Benefits Guide for active employees has been expanded to include more information, and it should be kept throughout the year. After the 1997 Open Enrollment period is completed, an employee survey will be conducted.

Each year the goal of the Health Insurance Section is to find ways to improve the process so that it can serve its customers better. In 1998, the Health Insurance Section will revise the Retiree Benefits Guide, and it will assess the feasibility of expanding the automated system for retirees.

Notes by: Dinah Edwards, Board Secretariat