School Nutrition Program Coordinator

General Statement of Job

Asheville City Schools (ACS) operates seven cafeterias for nine schools and currently participates in the USDA Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), where all students, regardless of ability to pay, can eat a free breakfast and lunch each day. Operational management is contracted with a Food Service Management Company (FSMC), currently Chartwells K12 (A Compass Group company). The School Nutrition Program Coordinator is directly responsible for the management of the day-to-day operations of the School Nutrition program under the jurisdiction of the School Food Authority (SFA), ACS, and the administrative oversight of the ACS contract with the FSMC. The FSMC's performance and service delivery is evaluated for consistency with the contractual standard, duties and obligations under which it provides School Nutrition services for the school district. The School Nutrition Program Coordinator performs a variety of managerial, supervisory and administrative duties that ensure the implementation of and compliance with federal, state and local laws, policies, regulations, procedures and standards to support and promote all aspects of the School Nutrition program while closely working with the FSMC. Management of this federal USDA program is complex and requires minimum education requirements as well as ongoing annual training. Understanding of all local, state and federal requirements and development of effective School Nutrition program policies and procedures that support the mission, vision and strategic plan of ACS will be critical to the ultimate success of the program. Position reports to the Chief Financial Officer and is a member of the ACS Leadership team.

Contract Oversight

• Coordinates with the FSMC to ensure the satisfactory performance of the School Nutrition program.
• Monitors, supports and evaluates compliance with the FSMC contract by coordinating with the vendor representatives, reviewing operational performance and ensuring contract requirements and School Nutrition program regulations are consistently met.
• Reviews FSMC operations to assure optimal service to students and staff.
• Cooperatively works with the FSMC to implement or make adjustments to operations to improve efficiency, promote cost savings and encourage waste reduction with the ultimate goal of increased participation.

Financial Management

• Supervise and train staff on financial management guidelines that support school nutrition program operational goals and comply with regulations.
• Assure that internal controls remain in place to safeguard all program assets.
• Understand the importance of appropriate staffing and scheduling to control labor costs and work with the FSMC to make needed adjustments.
• Study menu options in conjunction with requirements to control costs while increasing participation.
• Cooperatively develop special events and programs to bring attention to good nutrition and to increase participation in the School Nutrition program.
• Track and maintain fixed assets as required by federal, state and local requirements and policies.
• Assist the CFO with budgeting and prepare financial reports monthly and as needed as well as periodic updates for the board.
• Audits and reconciles monthly FSMC billing statements for contract and program compliance and invoice accuracy, including use of commodities, prior to sending to finance for processing.

Food Production and Operation Management

• Coordinates with the FSMC to ensure high standards for quality food production, safety and service.
• Assure compliance with all local, state and federal policies, laws and requirements.
• Cooperatively work with school leaders and staff and the FSMC to assure that the School Nutrition program benefits as many students and staff as possible with the goal of seamless integration in the school day.
• Assure that communications to (and from) all stakeholders are clear, timely and productive.
• Recommends purchases, replacements and disposals of supplies and equipment as needed and makes sure work orders are submitted and completed as needed.

Food Security, Sanitation and Safety

• Coordinates with the FSMC to establish policies and procedures to ensure food is prepared and served in a sanitary and safe environment.
• Provides leadership in creating a safe work environment for School Nutrition operations.
• Coordinates with the FSMC to develop a systematic approach to address emergency and disaster situations.
• Works with the FSMC to communicate the importance of food safety and assure that all training is complete and documented and that all local, state and federal requirements are met in a timely manner.
• Assures appropriate selection, storage, use and maintenance of chemical supplies and other hazardous materials.
• Assures that both the FSMC and ACS staff are familiar with and included in all emergency training provided by the FSMC and/or ACS and other agencies.

Human Resource Management

• Coordinates with the FSMC to support all staff.
• Work with the FSMC to develop strategies for building a cohesive school nutrition staff through clearly communicated expectations (e.g., CREW, conflict resolution, negotiation, problem solving techniques).
• Assures that ACS and FSMC policies are communicated and followed.
• Communicates with HR in the event of personnel issues and concerns.
• Performs annual employee evaluations for remaining ACS staff in order to provide constructive feedback to staff.
• Works with the FSMC to maintain current and accurate job descriptions for all positions.
• Require staff to attend training as needed and offer staff professional development to staff to meet requirements and help them improve and grow.
• Coordinates with FSMC to assure all staff are trained on point-of-sale (POS) and administrative software to maximize technology efficiency.

Market and Communication

• Coordinates with the FSMC to develop a systematic and innovative approach for marketing the School Nutrition program.
• Coordinates with the FSMC to establish a communication infrastructure with stakeholders to promote the school nutrition program and attain feedback for improvement.
• Engages school nutrition staff to actively promote meal programs and increase student participation.
• Involves district stakeholders in executing marketing plans, measuring participation outcomes, and analyzing results.
• Builds and maintains community partnerships to strengthen support and engagement for the school nutrition program.
• Utilizes appropriate communication channels to deliver clear, timely updates to parents, staff, and community members.
• Celebrate all appropriate milestones and accomplishments within and outside the district as appropriate.

Menu and Nutrition Management

• Coordinates with the FSMC to support the nutrition and wellness initiatives within the school district.
• Works with the FSMC to develop current USDA menu planning options and requirements, utilizing commodities to the extent possible.
• Works closely with the FSMC to assure all meal patterns, portion sizes and other nutritional requirements are met as required.
• Confers with FSMC regarding menu planning and service techniques for children with special food and/or nutrition needs, as appropriate.
• Gathers and analyzes customer feedback to inform menu planning and food selection.
• Values customer feedback for menu planning.
• Knows and enforces federal, state and local regulations governing food and beverage sales.
• Audits menu compliance and daily food production records in coordination with FSMC management and cafeteria managers.
• Integrates school nutrition services into the district's overall coordinated school health and wellness initiatives.
• Promotes district-wide nutrition education initiatives in collaboration with school leadership and instruction.

Procurement and Inventory Management

• Follows established procurement guidelines that comply with regulations and support operational goals of the school nutrition program.
• Coordinates with the FSMC to establish operational procedures to effectively manage receiving and inventory systems.
• Assures that ACS and FSMC processes and procedures meet all local, state and federal procurement requirements for the School Nutrition program.
• Confers with the CFO as needed for procurement or reporting concerns.
• Coordinates with the FSMC to assure appropriate inventory management practices are in place.

Program Management, Compliance and Accountability

• Coordinates with the FSMC to meet nutritional, financial and regulatory accountability of the School Nutrition program.
• Provides leadership to position the School Nutrition program as an integral component of the school district aligned with ACS strategic plan initiatives.
• Ensures all applications, claims for reimbursement and reports are verified, correct and filed on a timely basis and coordinates and performs as the lead for reviews and audits.
• Also serves as the lead to assure that any corrective measures recommended in audits and reviews are implemented successfully.
• Ensures the point-of-sale (POS) system used in the school nutrition program is reliable and provides accurate data in a timely manner and that the interface to the accounting system is working properly.
• Develops and implements procedures to maintain accurate and appropriate records that comply with federal, state and local regulations.
• Performs internal reviews/audits on all aspects of the program to identify and control potential problem areas.
• Complies with federal, state and local regulations concerning the sale of competitive food items.
• Assures policies and procedures to accommodate children with special food and/or nutrition needs are being met by the FSMC.
• Develops guidelines for implementing the components of the local wellness policy that are pertinent to the School Nutrition program.
• Executes federal, state, and local emergency feeding protocols and manages emergency utilization of USDA foods.
• Manages applications for summer feeding or seamless summer feeding in conjunction with district plans and FSMC operations, as well as other special grant programs when applicable.
• Informs and assists FSMC with district policies and practices regarding environmentally responsible practices.

Minimum Training and Experience

PRIOR MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE IN A PUBLIC SCHOOL, SCHOOL NUTRITION PROGRAM STRONGLY PREFERRED! For an SFA with enrollment of 2,500 - 9,999 students, the School Nutrition Program Coordinator position would need to meet at least ONE of the following:

• Bachelor's degree, or equivalent educational experience, with academic major in specific areas;
• Bachelor's degree in any academic major, and at least 2 years of relevant school nutrition programs experience; or
• Associate's degree or equivalent educational experience, with academic major in specific areas, and at least 2 years of relevant school nutrition programs experience.

Related majors include food and nutrition, food service management, dietetics, family and consumer sciences, nutrition education, culinary arts, business, hospitality management, or a related field.

Minimum Qualifications or Standards Required to Perform Essential Job Functions

• Knowledge and/or willingness to learn and attend training to attain all necessary skills and/or credentials for successful administration of a federal School Nutrition program.
• Meet ongoing annual continuing education requirements as required by ACS, USDA or NCDPI.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, analytical, math and technology skills.
• Understanding of complex and detailed instructions, requirements and recordkeeping required.
• Must be physically able to sit, stand and walk.
• Must be able to lift boxes up to 20 pounds independently, 40 lbs team lifting.
• Physical demand requirements are for Light Work.