Trends

Keeping the foodservice equipment marketplace up to date with the latest menu and concept trends.

Advertisement

Jackson Public Schools On-Site Report: Serving A Growing Population

A kitchen serving new elementary and middle schools brings efficiencies to the child nutrition program at Jackson Public Schools.

IMG 6888-middle-school-service-lineMiddle school students walk through the line and select a variety of hot and cold foods.In the early 21st century, Jackson, Miss., faced aging school district facilities and greater enrollment due to a shift in the city’s population. The citizens of Jackson passed a school bond issue in 2006 for $150 million, in part to build a middle school and elementary school in the southern part of the city. Today, the second-largest school district in Mississippi enrolls 30,000 students in 7 high schools, 13 middle schools, 38 elementary schools and 2 special schools.

“For better efficiency, the planning committee thought it would be best if enough property could be found to build the elementary and middle schools in south Jackson close together on the same land,” says Fred D. Davis, executive director of facilities and operations for Jackson Public Schools.

The foodservice aspect of the project for the south Jackson schools includes two separate dining areas so the different school populations never see each other during the school day. The elementary dining area also serves as a cafetorium that hosts other activities. The project features four separate service lines to facilitate maximum student flow, and a central kitchen with one common dishwashing system to accommodate both schools and food preparation equipment.

The decor in each school emphasizes color and natural light. School colors were incorporated for both the serving lines and cafeterias. Trays for both the elementary and middle schools feature school logos. Windows at Bates Elementary allow natural light into the dining area. Cardozo Middle School’s large glass windows face the corridor all the way across the entrance to the dining area.

IMG 6858-fruit-Serving lines must accommodate the presentation of fresh fruit, a requirement for the child nutrition programs.“The kitchen was designed with state-of-the-art kitchen equipment to enhance food preparation and production to meet the new meal pattern requirements from USDA,” says Mary A. Hill, executive director of food services.

One major challenge in the kitchen design was to build the kitchen with limited square footage to meet the production needs for the projected student population. The solution required precise selection of equipment that can produce the required menu and a sensible flow from receipt of food and supplies to delivery in the serving areas.

“We needed an efficient flow that would go from delivery to production to serving areas,” says foodservice consultant Sherman Robinson, principal of Sherman Robinson Inc.

Production and Service

Staff sitting in an office with a glass window located at the receiving area at the dock can see the arrival of deliveries. Staff collect food and supplies and deliver them to a walk-in refrigerator, walk-in freezer and dry storage room with track-type shelving, can rack storage and pallets.

IMG 6862Refrigeration behind the line allows staff to easily replenish lines as necessary.Each day staff bring food from the cold and dry storage areas to a prep area where they wash vegetables, slice vegetables and fruit, use a food processor to make fresh choices of fresh fruits and vegetables more appealing to students, and use a 20-quart mixer to make whipped potatoes.

For cooking, the kitchen includes an island-type cooking battery with a convection steamer, a 40-gallon tilting kettle and a pair of 40-gallon tilting skillet pans. Another line includes equipment such as a four-burner range, roll-in combi ovens that replaced fryers, and double-deck convection ovens. Yet another line features a 60-quart mixer, mobile ingredient pans, a reach-in refrigerator, a utensil rack and a worktable.

“The battery is positioned to allow staff to easily replenish their service lines as needed and therefore eliminates cross traffic and confusion,” Robinson says.

“As the menu regulations change, our production system allows us to adapt,” Hill says. “For example, we’ve added more whole-grain products and fresh fruits and vegetables to our menus, and we are baking all of our own rolls and other baked goods. We aren’t frying and during the past several years have brought in versatile equipment that will handle the menu changes.”

IMG 6838 tilting revA tilting kettle and tilting skillet support the great diversity of menu production for the elementary and middle schools.For service, staff place cooked foods in holding cabinets and cold foods, such as preplated salads, fruits and juices, in refrigerators. Before service, staff put the food in wells and display units along the service line.

When students arrive at the servery, they pick up their trays and move them along a slide to select their meal items. Cashier stations sit outside the serving area in the dining spaces. “Cashiers’ units were designed to be mobile so they can be stored inside when service is complete,” Robinson says.

The wall between serving and dining contains half-high glass panels in order to show off the serving area and facilitate supervision.

The dishwashing room sits on the corner of the dining rooms in order to accommodate soiled trays returning from both the elementary and middle school students, while also remaining accessible to the main production area.

In the dishwashing and warewashing area, a disposer handles waste, a three-compartment sink cleans pots and a conveyor dishmachine washes all the dishes. “The conveyor-style machine is the only one of its kind in the district,” Hill says.

IMG 6845-lineHot and cold wells and stacked shelving hold food on the service line for Bates Elementary School students.The back kitchen also contains a washer and dryer in the receiving area for aprons and towels and a janitor’s closet that holds soap and chemicals.

For sustainability, energy efficiency was pursued throughout the buildings, including in the kitchen. The exhaust hoods feature a makeup air system; the cooking battery has a mechanical electric raceway. “There is enough power so equipment can be changed out as needed,” Robinson says. “In addition, the equipment is on casters so it can be pulled out for maintenance and to meet sanitation requirements.”

“The building of these two schools has truly assisted with overcrowding of students and given us the ability to use new technology that has enhanced the learning and dining environment for the students,” Hill says. FE&S

Key Players

  • Owner: Jackson Public Schools in Jackson, Miss.
  • Executive Director of Facilities: Fred D. Davis
  • Director of Construction: Sandra Robinson
  • Executive Director of Child Nutrition Services:
    Mary A. Hill
  • Executive Chef and Food Service Manager: Mary Grayer
  • Architect: JBHM Architects, PA, Jackson, Miss.
  • Foodservice Consultant: Sherman Robinson Inc.,
    Indianapolis, Ind.; Sherman Robinson, principal, FCSI
  • Equipment Dealer: Hotel and Restaurant Supply Co., Jackson, Miss.
  • Construction: Evan Johnson and Sons Construction
    Company, Jackson, Miss.

Facts of Note

  • IMG 6830-kitchenThe central kitchen includes a mixer, counters with sinks, a cooking battery and refrigeration. Opened: September 2010
  • Scope of Project: Two new schools, Bates Elementary School and Cardozo Middle School, with dining rooms
    and a kitchen serving both schools
  • Size of School District: The child nutrition program serves 40,000 students breakfast, lunch and after-school snacks daily.
  • Size of Kitchen: 4,200 sq. ft., including 383 sq. ft. for dishwashing, 346 sq. ft. for dry storage, 134 sq. ft. for walk-in cooler, 206 sq. ft. for walk-in freezer, 90 sq. ft. for offices, 215 sq. ft. for receiving area, 168 sq. ft. for mechanical room, 1,378 sq. ft. for the cooking battery and 1,145-sq. ft. for 2 serving areas with 2 serving counters each.
  • Seats: 240 seats at Bates Elementary; 360 seats at Cardozo Middle School
  • Total Annual Budget: $20 million for the district; $400,000 for schools’ budget
  • Meals Served Daily: 1,200 students and staff. This school year (2014–15) the school district is operating under (CEP) Community Eligibility Provision through the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010; all the students eat breakfast, lunch and after-school snacks in schools where they have after school enrichment programs at no cost.
  • Hours: Breakfast served at Bates from 7 a.m. to 7:45 a.m.; lunch from 10:30 a.m. to noon; after-school, 2:30 p.m. Cardozo serves breakfast from 7:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m.; lunch from 10:30 a.m. to 12:05 p.m. and after-school snacks at 3:30 p.m.
  • Menu Specialties: Bagels, pancake pup, sausage and biscuit for breakfast; cheesy chicken, pizza, chicken and tuna salad plates, tacos and taco salad, fish filet on a bun, spaghetti and meat sauce for lunch (all products are whole grain or made with whole-grain products); and for after-school, snack bar, frozen fruit cups, baked chips, fresh fruit (grapes, apple slices, etc.), peanut butter crackers, and other snacks
  • Staff: 1 manager and 10 FTEs
  • Total Project Cost: $30 million for both schools and the kitchen
  • Equipment Investment: $600,000
  • Website: www.jackson.k12.ms.us

 Photographs courtesy of Jackson Public Schools and Sherwin Johnson, director of media relations