WARREN Harding High cafeteria will close next year

A board member said school officials will make sure no one goes hungry.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
and AMANDA C. DAVIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Because it's losing $10,000 a month, the cafeteria at Warren G. Harding High School will close.
The board of education called a halt Tuesday to cafeteria operations beginning next school year.
Although the district ended traditional school lunches earlier this year, students still have the option to snack during the first five minutes of every class period, to have a hot breakfast prepared in the cafeteria and to have lunch at 1:30 p.m., after school lets out.
Come fall, students can brown-bag it or buy snacks at the school, including nutrition bars and fruit.
Paul McCombs, district business manager, said officials are also considering alternatives for next year, such as offering nutritionally balanced sack lunches prepared in other district cafeterias.
"We will find a way to make sure no one goes hungry," said board member Linda Metzendorf.
Board member Nick Frankos also stressed that Tuesday's vote can be changed in the future.
"We are going to look into this further," Frankos said.
Combined service: Harding's cafeteria serves pupils at the high school and at the district's Washington Alternative School, which together have about 1,800 students, McCombs said. Plans for feeding students at the alternative school are still being worked out.
About 150 students buy lunch at the high school now, and, by the end of the school year, there will be an approximate $90,000 operating loss, the business manager said. Officials indicated that the cafeteria would probably operate at a loss no matter how many students bought lunches.
Harding cafeteria workers, who have the most seniority in the district, will get to bid on other positions, as eight lower ranking part-time cafeteria workers are laid off, McCombs said.
The furloughed employees, who typically work two or three hours a day, 180 days per year, will be able to bid on positions if they are vacated, he added.
"We don't want anyone to lose their jobs," Metzendorf said.
Mother upset: Pearlie Phillips of Southern Boulevard, said she is worried that closing the cafeteria will negatively affect her son, Michael, and other students who stay after school for sports or other activities.
She said during the meeting that students who have limited options for breakfast and lunch will be hungry, which in turn will affect academic and athletic performance.
"That's a long time to be there all day without food," she said, adding that her son, a sophomore football and basketball player, doesn't have time to eat before school in the morning. "How do you concentrate when you're hungry?"
Phillips and several other cafeteria employees said they disagree with the decision because it will force students to go without a meal. The employees also told the board that they were upset that they found out only Monday afternoon that the board planned to vote Tuesday on eliminating the cafeteria.
Longer classes: School officials have said the decision to move lunch to the end of the day was made to give students more time in the classroom and more flexibility with their schedules. With the elimination of traditional lunch, class sessions were lengthened to one hour.
Many students would rather go home early and opt not to buy a hot lunch, McCombs said, and by law, the district is required only to sell milk.
McCombs said: "By the time kids get to the high school, they munch more than they eat. ... This is the only solution we could find to the red ink."