By 3 AM – Schools notify ALL THREE: Director of Operations Matt Anderson, Kitchen Manager Joel Wight, Scheduling Coordinator Ed Harr and ovens@ckcgoodfood.
Why 3 AM? Because shortly thereafter we start pulling food from the freezers and heating it for delivery. Minnesota Department of Health requires food to be thrown away if it has been cooked. MDH also has a 7-day limit from the time food is removed from the freezer to when it’s heated and served.
The early notice is also helpful because we can tell our team members to stay home and stay safe. If we’re not notified, it’s business as usual: we prepare meals, send our drivers out in the hazardous conditions to deliver meals and schools are charged for the day’s meals.
Matt notifies our Administrative Coordinator, who keeps a giant spreadsheet for tracking which schools/locations have closed. Ultimately, that spreadsheet is passed along to Finance Coordinator Steve Schnaser, who uses it to deduct that day’s meal count from schools’ weekly meal counts as submitted on our website. Matt also notifies our driver managers and the warehouse to stop planned deliveries to locations that have closed.
On most days, the meal that was to be served on the day school was canceled will be served the following day, shifting the meals each day that week to the following day. Friday’s meal would not be served. If school is canceled two consecutive days, the meal that was to be served the first canceled day is now served two days later and the meals for the following days shift one day. Confusing matters more, some client sites serve a different number of students throughout the week. So, meals pushed to the next day or two days later may have different meal counts than what was originally planned.
Some of our clients receive their meals a day prior to the day of service and heat meals onsite the next day. When those sites cancel, their menus also get pushed by one day but the clock is ticking on MDH’s 7-day limit. If school is canceled on Thursday and Friday and their meals were delivered Wednesday, those meals have to be served Monday.
Pizza Days: If school cancels on a pizza day, we still need to be notified by 3 AM to cancel the order with Domino’s and to keep the sides delivered from CKC in cold storage. If we’re not notified, schools are charged 50% based on submitted meal counts.
If school is canceled the day before a pizza day, schools have the option of still serving pizza rather than the meal planned for the day school was canceled, however, schools will be charged for the meal not served as well as their pizza days.
Breakfast: Schools that receive breakfast foods in one bulk delivery a week are billed for the number of breakfasts delivered, whether school is open or closed. It’s imperative these schools keep refrigerated foods cold and adjust their meal counts the following week to reflect the quantity on hand due to the days school was canceled.
Salad Bars: Salad bar foods, which are typically delivered on Mondays for the entire week’s lunches, cannot be held for the following week and need to be thrown away.
Wow. That’s a lot and we haven’t even mentioned snacks and FFVP foods!