Jefferson looks at cashless cafeteria

By Nancy Spencer, The Delphos Herald
Published:  Wednesday, February 20, 2008 (10 months, 3 weeks ago)
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DELPHOS — City schools may be going to a “point-of-sale” system for the cafeteria.
Superintendent Jeff Price is looking into a company that installs the system and also obtains grant monies to reduce the cost of going “cashless.”
“The schools we have talked to that are using this system now have said that it pays for itself in about a year and then they realized income in the cafeteria,” Price said. “It’s also nice because the free- and reduced-lunch students are no longer identified by other students. There is no ‘stigma’ and we hope this means more students will use the cafeteria and benefit from having a good lunch.”
If the system is put in place, parents and/or students will pay in advance for lunches with the money going into a student account. Students will then be given a pin number or some type of identification to access their account to purchase food.
Preliminary cost estimates are at approximately $17,000 to install the system. A $7,000 grant is available to offset the cost.
Price also voiced his opinion on Ohio Governor Ted Strickland’s plan to cut $100 million from education.
“I know at first that sounds like a lot of money but you have to realize he is asking that figure be cut over two years — $49 million the first and $51 million second. Then if you divide that by the number of school districts, it’s really not a lot. However, if the economy goes down any more or if we go into a recession, those figures could go higher and affect our foundation money,” Price said.
Strickland would also like to create an education governing committee.
“We already have a state Department of Education that I feel is doing an adequate job of overseeing education in the state,” Price said. “I think Governor Strickland feels that he is ultimately accountable for the education of our children and wants to be able to control that.”
Price said he was excited about the “senior to sophomore” program Strickland proposed and added some students in the district were already taking advantage of a similar offering. Seniors can take college-level courses while still attending high school. The courses transfer once they start college.
The calendar for the 2008-09 school year was approved with classes beginning on Aug. 26 and concluding on May 29 with commencement at 8 p.m. Thanksgiving break will be Nov. 26-28; Christmas break from Dec. 22 through Jan. 2; and Easter break is set for April 10-13.
In other business, the board:
• Moved Stacey Ricker to the MA column of the salary schedule for earning her master’s degree in November;
• Accepted the resignation of retiring teachers Ann Grothaus and Louise Pohlman after 38 and 35 years of service, respectively. Both are at Landeck; and
• Approved Chris Mercer as a volunteer assistant baseball coach for the 2007-08 season. There are approximately 30 signed up for the sport.
The next meeting will begin at 8 p.m. March 10.

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