Ad Hoc Cafeteria Committee To Make Recommendations Regarding Vacancy
By Sara Herrmann
POSTED: May 7, 2008
The Ad Hoc Cafeteria Committee established recently by the Westfield Academy and Central School Board of Education is charged with making a recommendation to the board to consider how to best fill the vacancy being left by retiring cafeteria head cook Clara Winkelman and to chart a course for cafeteria services for the coming years.
The ad hoc committee consists of School Board members Kathy Archer (ad hoc committee chair) and Jean Habig as well as cafeteria staff, district administrators and teachers, school nurses and members of the community.
Archer says the committee is looking at various options for continued cafeteria operations, including whether or not to hire a replacement for Winkelman who has a background in nutrition or perhaps contracting out for nutritional planning services. Responding to reports that the committee is looking to contract out all cafeteria services, Archer said that there has “never been any interest in replacing our existing cafeteria employees.”
She notes that narrowly drafted contractual agreements specifically for nutritional planning services have met with success in other districts including Dunkirk and Salamanca.
“We’re looking at options that will maximize our current resources and increase our buying power,” Archer says. “We’re looking at ways to use our resources to get the highest possible quality food for our kids.”
The ad hoc committee’s recommendations will be presented to the Board of Education at an upcoming meeting. Winkleman has agreed to stay on until her replacement has been trained.
Speaking on a broader scale about the direction the district is moving generally, Archer added that she sees swift change ahead. “All I can say is that anyone who is uncomfortable with change isn’t going to be happy over the course of the next few years,” she said.
