A Lesson in Bureaucracy (or, my torturous efforts to make lunches at my son's school a little better)

My son started kindergarten in the fall. He loves it.

I'm pretty happy with it, also. But there's one aspect that just doesn't sit right with me: School lunch.

French toast sticks with sausage; nachos grande with cheese; tacos; corn dogs; cheesesteak; chicken nuggets; chicken fryz; pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza. Those are actual menu items for much of February. 

Sure, the menu notes that most everything that can be "whole grain" is whole grain -- but I'm not certain what a whole-grain chicken nugget is all about, or how healthy it is.

Presented with these kinds of options, I decided I needed to attent a school board meeting and ask about the menu. Almost by chance, I happened to go to one of the first meetings where two of the women who ran the lunch program at my son's school were in attendance to discuss the 2012-2013 menu changes.

I took the opportunity to speak up. Is there any way, I asked, to set up some kind of school-sanctioned parents' committee that will (a) educate parents about the requirements (and some exciting changes) and how they are being met and (b) allow parents to make some suggestions.

The board seemed enthusiastic. The lunch-program coordinators liked the idea. The board asked the superintendent to send out a note asking for parents to volunteer. Great news all around!

That was at the beginning of the school year. It took to December before a small note was sent home asking parents if they wanted to volunteer. Then, I received an email saying the committee would meet at the school ... at 3:15 p.m. ... on a Tuesday ... Valentine's Day.

I'm just guessing here, but I'd have to say that most parents who regularly use school lunch are working parents. Having the meeting in the middle of the afternoon is a bit of a hardship. Then, having it on a day when many parents also probably need extra time to, perhaps, pick up flowers or go out for a special dinner? It seems like this is not going to work terribly well.

In addition, I have to think that if it takes this long to simply set up a meeting like this, then whatever solutions we parents try to suggest probably will take even longer to be acted on.

I hope I'm wrong.

I hope this works out well.

I hope the email I sent to the superintendent suggesting we move the meeting to a different time and date is well received.

I'll share whatever happens here in the near future. Until then, I'd love to hear if there are any other South Jerseyans who tried to change their school's lunch menus. Share your efforts so I can learn.

Thanks in advance.