UPDATE: Banta Nutrition Services Responds

We want to acknowledge and appreciate the positive changes Banta Nutrition Services has announced for September. The district has expanded the RIHS menu to include additional entrée choices, entrée salads, Hot & Ready selections, and On-the-Go options. We appreciate that Nutrition Services heard the concerns being raised by students and families and took steps to provide more choices. However, we believe there are still important concerns that need to be addressed. Our concerns are no longer simply about the number of items printed on the menu. We want to make sure students can actually access those choices during their lunch period. RIHS has hundreds of students sharing a single lunch period, and students have reported spending a significant portion of that limited time waiting in line. We have also heard concerns about popular items running out before students reach the front of the line. We would like to work collaboratively with Banta Unified and Nutrition Services to understand: • How many students are served during the lunch period? • How many serving lines/stations are available? • Are all advertised choices available throughout the lunch period? • What happens when an entrée runs out? • How is Nutrition Services determining which menu items students actually want? • What plans exist for increasing variety and rotating the new options? • Could additional serving stations, food vendors, or other solutions help reduce wait times? We appreciate the improvements that have been made, and we don't want that progress to go unnoticed. At the same time, our goal remains the same: to ensure RIHS students have a lunch program that provides enough variety, enough food, and enough time to actually eat. We look forward to continuing this conversation with Banta Unified, Nutrition Services, ASB, students, and families.