As resource support from the state government has increased for the Warren County R-III Food Service Department, the district’s storage facilities have exceeded their capacity to hold monthly deliveries. This has prompted the plans for an expansion to add a new facility to the campus of Daniel Boone Elementary Building, said Food Service Director Deb Linke.

“We always run out of space for the freezer use, and if one of our freezers goes down, then we’re in a real predicament,” said Linke. “I’m proposing that we add on to our existing building with a big freezer that can accommodate all of our commodities coming in from the state.”

Linke said the current facility became unable to handle the storage needs when supplies coming in from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education increased in response to child food security concerns during COVID-19. Previously the district received assistance for students on the free-and-reduced lunch program, but during the pandemic additional relief made meals free for all students, meaning more supply was needed.

“The state truck only delivers monthly, so we keep over two months of food on hand,” said Linke. “We have over 200 cases, and when we get a new truck in we have over 300 on hand. We just run out of space and have to stack it to the ceiling.”

Linke said the current storage circumstance makes it very difficult to accurately count inventory and access resources in the storage unit.

The expansion plan also includes moving the Food Services offices out of their existing location in Daniel Boone Elementary, ultimately freeing up a classroom space. The new offices would be included in the proposed storage space, which would be targeted for completion by the fall of 2022.

“I’m excited about it,” said Linke. “I’ve been wanting a building for about five years. I’m excited that we finally have the funds to do it. It’ll make everybody’s life a little bit easier.”

The project would be paid for out of the food services budget, which is around $1.5 million. The cost of the expansion is expected to be anywhere between $700,000 to $1.3 million. Drawings are not yet completed by the architect.

“The reason we have this extra money is because the (meal) reimbursement rate was higher the past two years because all the meals were free instead of free and reduced,” said Linke. “We’ve been getting reimbursed more from the state.”

In order to use food service funds for such a project, DESE requires that the addition be connected to an existing facility and cannot stand on its own.

Linke added that the construction will be directly coordinated by the school district.

“We will contract it in house, so (Maintenance Director) Jon Chandler will be the general contractor,” said Linke. “So it’ll be up to him to hire all of the vendors and suppliers to build.”

Linke is hopeful to have the architect’s proposal ready to take before the R-III School Board at their March monthly meeting.