Statewide network simplifies school lunch management in Maryland

Food and Nutrition, April, 1986 by Ellen Lancaster

Statewide Network Simplifies School Lunch Management In Maryland

In Maryland, a new statewide computer network is making life easier for school lunch managers. The network links the state education agency, which administers the National School Lunch Program, with every school district in the state.

Now, instead of having to prepare long and complicated written reports for reimbursement and other purposes, school staff simply key the information into the computer terminal installed in their offices and send it electronically to the state office.

Maryland is one of the first states in the country to go full steam ahead in setting up a total network of technological communications with its local education authorities (LEA's).

Managers like

the new system

Preliminary work on the system began in 1981 when the state contracted with the Center for Educational Research and Development at the University of Maryland to design, develop, and test an automated data processing system for both the child nutrition and commodity distribution programs.

In 1983, the state won approval from FNS' Mid-Atlantic regional office to spend $166,000 in state administrative expense funds on the project. Within a year, there was a computer network between the state and all 24 school districts. Schools have not only welcomed the computer equipment installed by the state, they have also added to it with purchases that increase their computer capabilities.

Joan Weatherholtz, who directs the education support service branch for the state department of education, is sold on the new system. "It has greatly simplified communications," she says, "enabling the state agency to gather and process information quickly and accurately."

According to Robert Cliser, chief of accountability for the branch, the system is also saving money. In the first 6 months of 1985, the computer network saved the state approximately $200,000.

Cliser was convinced from the start that the system would be cost effective and that it would answer an urgent need to improve reporting procedures at both the state and LEA levels.

Developed in

several stages

The state is now through its first phase of completion. The principal uses of the system have been to: establish and update data bases of standard information for items such as routine reports; to provide for a rapid exchange of information; and to facilitate reporting and reimbursement processes.

Among the specific items processed for the child nutrition programs are program agreements with boards of education, overall information on schools and on student applications for free and reduced-price meals, and pertinent information on severe need schools.

The data processing system is used to process requests from LEA's to the state for payment on letters of credit; produce statistical reports for reimbursement; prepare semi-annual financial reports to establish per-meal costs; and monitor operating balances. It also helps make projections used for planning and budgeting.

As Cliser points out, the turn-around time for an LEA's request for payment by the state on a letter of credit used to be about 5 to 8 days. With the computer system, this has been reduced to about 2 days. The turn-around time for sponsors to receive claims payments based on monthly statistical reimbursements has been cut from a maximum of 8 weeks to about 2 weeks, since this report, as well as others, is being automatically edited instead of manually checked.

Information on the commodity program has also been computerized, making it easier for program managers to determine the availability and value of USDA-donated foods and to order bonus commodities.

"This year, phase two is being implemented," Weatherholtz says. "The branch is working with the LEA's to establish an electronic mail system and to develop a program that will replace hands-on processing of applications for free and reduced-price meals."

During the third phase of the project, this year and next, there will be additional programs developed to improve the management of local school food service operations.

Many advantages

for local staff

Local school food service managers are benefiting from the system in a number of ways. Stanley Smith, director of school food services for Baltimore County, says he finds the system particularly helpful in submitting routine reports and retrieving information in the proper format.

Baltimore County, which has 146 schools, has expanded the system to set up programs for equipment inventory. "Instead of locating information manually," Smith says, "we now can rapidly retrieve the most specific information, such as how many stoves or kettles there are in any kitchen or what the model numbers are on the ovens." The district's add-ons to date have cost about $5,000.

Don Trumble, director of school food services for Washington County's 42 schools in western Maryland, calls the system "indispensable" and praises the speed and efficiency it provides in handling repetitive tasks.

An example is the county's report on summer school food service. "It used to be difficult to get it out to the state by September 15," he says, "but now we get it out by September 3."