SNMCS State, Local & Tribal Governments

E6. GROUP 3—FOODSERVICE MANAGER COST INTERVIEW

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USDA/Food and Nutrition Service

School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study

School Nutrition Manager Cost Interview

NOTE: This instrument should also be used for CENTRAL KITCHENS

SFA Name #:

School ID#: ________________

School Name:

School Nutrition Mgr. Name:

School Nutrition Mgr. Phone:

School Nutrition Mgr. email:

INTRODUCTION

Thank you for participating in the School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study. Please review and complete this package in preparation for our site visit to collect data about school meal program costs. Should you have any questions about this study, please call (855) ###-#### at Abt Associates Inc.

About the Study. The School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study (SNMCS) will continue the long-standing commitment of the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to periodic assessment of the school meal programs. This current assessment coincides with a period of considerable change for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP). In recent years, schools participating in these programs implemented sweeping regulatory changes designed to increase children’s access to healthy foods at school and to promote adoption of healthy eating and physical activity habits. While FNS has conducted multiple studies of school nutrition and meal costs to date, SNMCS is the first such study after these major changes were implemented and the first to explore both nutrition and cost on a large national scale. This study will provide critical information of interest to USDA, the States, School Food Authorities (SFAs), and other program stakeholders that is not currently available.

The USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), has contracted with Mathematica Policy Research and its research partners Abt Associates, Agralytica, and Relyon Media to conduct the SNMCS for SY 2014-2015. Participation in the study by selected states, districts, and schools is required under Section 305 of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA).

SNMCS will collect a broad range of data from nationally representative samples of public SFAs, schools, and students and their parents during SY 2014-2015. These data will provide Federal, State, and local policymakers with needed information about how federally sponsored school meal programs are operating after implementation of the new meal pattern and nutrient requirements and other changes in regulations. Comparisons of results from SNMCS with previous School Nutrition and Dietary Assessment (SNDA) and School Lunch and Breakfast Cost (SLBC) studies will provide information to assess the effects of the new nutrition standards on foodservice operations, the nutrient content of school meals offered and as served, meal costs and revenues, and student participation and dietary intake.

Protecting Privacy. All information gathered from school districts, schools, and households is for research purposes only and will be kept private to the full extent allowed by law. Responses will be grouped with those of other study participants, and no individual schools, districts, or students will be identified. We will inform parents of the study and our privacy practices. Any selected parent or student can choose not to participate in the study. We are not conducting audits or monitoring visits. Participation in the study will not affect meal reimbursements to participating districts and schools or school meal program benefits to participating households.

Instructions to Interviewers for Completing the School Nutrition Manager Cost Interview

Review introduction with School Nutrition Manager before proceeding with interview.

Step 1: Complete The Kitchen Staff Time Allocation Grid.

Introduction:

I want to find out how much time the people who work in this kitchen spend on preparing meals and other foodservice activities. We will do this by completing a “time ladder” that represents the staff’s daily schedules. It may help if you have access to the schedules or time cards for the staff.

General instructions: The allocation grid represents a schedule of all foodservice staff in the school, i.e. an arrangement of staff across tasks over time for one day. You will collect this information for the prior week (five working days). This is the reference week. If Monday was a holiday then use the schedule for the most recent Monday that was a working day (similarly for any other weekday that was a holiday). Thus, you will complete Kitchen Staff Time Allocation Grids for five days for each school visited. Begin by completing one form for the first day of the reference week. This will be the reference day for completing the grids for the other four days.

Step by step instructions for completing the grid:

1. Header. Record the contact information. Circle the day of the reference week.

When did the first staff member arrive on [reference day], and when did the last staff member leave? (Record opening and closing times.)

2. Schedule 1. (Record School Nutrition Manager’s title in first column of grid.) Let’s start with your work schedule on [reference day].

1. When did you start work? At this time, which of the activities listed on the handout did you start working on?

Show the FSM the Definitions of Activities for Kitchen Staff Time Allocation Grids and record the activity code in the cell for the start work time.

2. When did you finish this activity?

Draw a vertical arrow through the cells (going down the column) to indicate the duration of time spent on that activity.

3. Which of the activities did you do next, and when did you finish this?

Enter the code for this activity in the cell for the activity start time and draw a vertical arrow down to the time this activity ended.

4. Continue with this process until the School Nutrition Manager’s whole day is mapped out. Leave the Total for the Day rows blank.

3. Schedules 2-5. Next, ask the School Nutrition Manager about the other kitchen staff –

a) Are there any kitchen staff that have an identical schedule on this day? In other words, are there kitchen staff who worked on the same activities for the same time periods?

If yes, then record each unique title in a separate column, complete the schedule for the first title, and write the code SAP = Same as Previous for the other titles that share the same schedule for that day.

b) On [reference day] were there any other kitchen staff or groups of staff with the same title that shared a schedule of activities different from the schedule we just created?

If yes, follow the same procedure of recording unique titles in each column, completing the shared schedule for the first title and then enter the code SAP = Same as Previous for the other titles that share that schedule for the day.

4. Repeat the process until all of the kitchen staff are accounted for on the reference day. If there are more than five distinct staff schedules or staff categories present for the reference day, start another page and mark “Page 2” in the upper right corner. Note that there may be individual staff that do not share a work schedule with any other staff. In such cases each person has a separate column with “1” entered for Number of People. Use additional pages if needed. Note that if a worker did more than one activity during a time interval of 30 minutes or more, determine the approximate amount of time spent on the two tasks during the time. If an activity took less than 8 minutes of the time interval, disregard it.

5. Other Days of the Week. Was the schedule for all personnel for the day after the [reference day] the same?

If so, circle the day at the top. If not, start a new form for that day. Repeat the process until you have accounted for all days of the Target Week.

Review

• If there seems to be activity that is inappropriate for a Title/Position, verify that you have recorded the time under the correct activity and note this on the grid.

• Make certain that you have accounted for all of the time for each Title/Position from the start of the day until they leave. There should be no gaps in the time ladder. Ask for an explanation for any gap and correct the grid if needed.

Step 2: Fill out the Cafeteria/Kitchen Staff Roster.

Complete the Cafeteria/Kitchen Staff Roster columns (1), (2) and (7) with the School Nutrition Manager after the Time Allocation Grid is complete.

1. Copy the Title/Position and Number of People from the first column of the Time Allocation Grid to the first row of the Cafeteria/Kitchen Staff Roster. NOTE: the Title/Position, Number of People and order much match exactly between the Time Allocation Grid and the Roster – as these two need to be linked in analysis.

2. Ask the School Nutrition Manager:

What percent of this person’s time is spent on foodservice activities? (if needed) please include all types of meals and non-production tasks related to foodservice operations. Record this percent in the last column of the roster, column (7) Foodservice Percent.

Repeat this process creating a new row on the Roster for each Title/Position column in the Time Allocation Grid.

Review

• Make certain that the total number of staff on the grids is equal to the total number of staff on the Cafeteria/Kitchen Staff Roster.

• Give the Cafeteria/Kitchen Staff Roster to the SFA Director or the Business Manager to complete.

Kitchen Staff Time Allocation Grid
Schedule Days: M Tu W Th F		Opening Time:				Closing Time:
Activity Codes
BP = Set up / Make Breakfast BS= Serve Breakfast LP = Set up / Make Lunch LS= Serve Lunch JP = Set up/Make both Breakfast and Lunch JS= Serve both Breakfast and Lunch SP=Set up/Make Snacks SS= Serve Snacks				OP = Set up / Make Other Meals OS = Serve Other Meals EP = Nutrition Education/Promotion A = Foodservice Administration, etc. NF = Non-Foodservice Activity Break = Breaks / Non-Assignable Work OFF =Off work before / after the workday SAP = Same as previous
Time of Day	Schedule
	Schedule		Schedule		Schedule		Schedule	Schedule
Title / Position (s)
Number of People
5:00 – 5:15 AM
5:15 – 5:30
5:30 – 5:45
5:45 – 6:00
6:00 – 6:15 AM
6:15 – 6:30
6:30 – 6:45
6:45 – 7:00
7:00 – 7:15 AM
7:15 – 7:30
7:30 – 7:45
7:45 – 8:00
8:00 – 8:15 AM
8:15 – 8:30
8:30 – 8:45
8:45 – 9:00

9:00 – 9:15 AM
9:15 – 9:30
9:30 – 9:45
9:45 – 10:00
10:00 – 10:15 AM
10:15 – 10:30
10:30 – 10:45
10:45 – 11:00
11:00 – 11:15 AM
11:15 – 11:30
11:30 – 11:45
11:45 – 12:00
12:00 – 12:15 PM
12:15 – 12:30
12:30 – 12:45
12:45 – 1:00
1:00 – 1:15 PM
1:15 – 1:30
1:30 – 1:45
1:45 – 2:00
2:00 – 2:15 PM
2:15 – 2:30
2:30 – 2:45
2:45 – 3:00

3:00 – 3:15 PM
3:15 – 3:30
3:30 – 3:45
3:45 – 4:00
4:00 – 4:15 PM
4:15 – 4:30
4:30 – 4:45
4:45 – 5:00

For times before 5 AM or after 5 PM, use the grid on the next page.

Kitchen Staff Time Allocation Grid (for additional times)
Time of Day	Schedule
	Schedule	Schedule	Schedule	Schedule	Schedule
Title / Position (s)
Number of People

Total for Day	Breakfast
	Lunch
	Breakfast and Lunch
	Snacks/Other Meals
	Nutrition Ed./Prom.
	Administration
	Non-Food
	Breaks

SCHOOL NUTRITION MANAGER INTERVIEW

HANDOUT A – List of Cafeteria/Kitchen Staff Tasks

Definitions of Activities for Kitchen Staff Time Allocation Grids

• Breakfast Production: Producing foods for breakfast; and cleaning up production area after breakfast.

• Breakfast Serving: Serving breakfast; collecting money, meal tickets, or other payments for breakfast; cleaning up serving area and cafeteria during/after breakfast.

• Lunch Production: Producing foods for lunch; and cleaning up production area after lunch.

• Lunch Serving: Serving lunch; collecting money, meal tickets, or other payments; and cleaning up after serving area and cafeteria during/after lunch.

• Breakfast and Lunch Production: Producing foods for both breakfast and lunch (such as baking foods offered at breakfast and lunch); cleaning up production area after both breakfast and lunch.

• Breakfast and Lunch Serving: Serving foods offered for both breakfast and lunch at the same time; collecting money, meal tickets, or payments for both breakfast and lunch; cleaning serving area or cafeteria after both breakfast and lunch.

• Snack Production: Producing foods for FFVP or after-school snacks; collecting money, meal tickets, or other payments for snacks; cleaning production area after snacks.

• Snack Serving: Serving FFVP or after-school snacks; cleaning up serving area and cafeteria after snacks.

• Other Meal Production: Producing meals other than breakfast, lunch, or FFVP/after-school snacks (such as special events, catered meals produced for other facilities, or other meals not counted as reimbursable meals by this SFA). Includes cleaning up production area after preparing these meals.

• Other Meal Serving: Serving meals other than breakfast, lunch, or FFVP/after-school snacks (such as special events, catered meals produced for other facilities, or other meals not counted as reimbursable meals by this SFA). Includes cleaning up serving area and cafeteria after these meals.

• Nutrition education and promotion: Activities to promote healthy eating and participation in school meals. Includes related communications, events, planning, and training. Also includes development and monitoring of school wellness policies. .

• Foodservice Administration: Preparing, distributing and processing applications; conducting income verification; updating student status and records; ordering and purchasing food and supplies; planning, budgeting and management for foodservice program; menu planning and nutritional analysis; and record keeping, accounting and data processing for foodservice program.

• Other Non-Production Activities: Cleaning, maintenance, and security of foodservice space and equipment; receiving, storing and/or transporting food and supplies; maintenance of vehicles and other equipment used in storage and transportation.

Prepared by Mathematica Policy Research and Abt Associates