Dive Brief:
- Some 12% of California school nutrition jobs stood vacant at the end of the 2022-23 school year, according to a recent survey by Food Insight Group, a food systems research organization. For comparison, that’s nearly twice as high as the 6.6% national vacancy rates in the accommodation and food services industry, the report found.
- Of the 190 California food service directors surveyed, 62% expressed concerns that they wouldn’t have enough staff to meet growing student participation in school meals, particularly since the state became the first to pass a universal school meal law in 2021.
- Compensation is another common hardship for California school food service directors. More than half — 57% — said they are worried their pay benefits were not competitive enough to keep up with nearby institutions or businesses.
Dive Insight:
Staffing shortages are being felt on a wide scale, as 90% of school nutrition directors said in a School Nutrition Association survey released in January that they faced staffing shortages heading into the current school year. But the latest survey by Food Insight Group, released alongside the California School Nutrition Association and the Chef Ann Foundation, shows California may be getting hit the hardest.
California’s staffing challenges highlight some of the downsides that can come with adopting permanent universal school meal policies, which allow schools to serve free meals to students regardless of income. Universal school meal policies also drive up student participation in breakfast and lunch, according to a recent study by the Food Research & Action Center, which advocates for universal meal policies.
But more student participation can also lead to a higher need for resources and staffing within a school district’s nutrition services department. In California, FRAC found the average student participation in both breakfast and lunch collectively jumped by 161,359 students — a 3.3% increase between the 2018-19 and 2022-23 school years.
Additionally, one third of California school nutrition directors said they added new positions in their department during 2022-23, according to Food Insight Group.
Another upcoming challenge that could further strain California’s school nutrition staffing is a new state law taking effect in April requiring a $20 per hour minimum wage for fast food workers. The new law does not apply to K-12 food service workers, likely making wage competition even more difficult for schools.
Elsewhere, school districts are facing difficulties competing with local food service employers. Florida’s Orange County Public Schools, for instance, has to compete for the same employees sought by Walt Disney World and Universal Studios in the tourist-heavy city of Orlando.
Even so, food service directors throughout the country have no choice but to get creative in their recruitment and retention policies, such as adopting pay for performance programs for managers and hiring an employee solely dedicated to school nutrition staffing.
