FARMINGTON — Regional School Unit 9’s food service department is expanding after school meal access and preparing to implement new menu management software, according to a Feb. 10 update presented to the board of directors by Food Services Director Andy Hutchins.

Hutchins said the district recently completed an administrative review of its after-school meals program by the Maine Department of Education. The review is part of ongoing oversight of federally supported school nutrition programs and included extensive documentation and an on-site visit.

He noted the district previously completed a summer meals review and will undergo a more extensive breakfast and lunch review as part of a five-year cycle next year.

Hutchins said the review process has shifted toward hybrid formats that require significant paperwork submitted in advance.

“It tends to be a lot more time-consuming on my end because when you can sit down for a couple of days and just knock this stuff out with somebody on site or a team on site, it’s much more time efficient on site over back and forth emails,” he said.

The district’s after-school meals program continues to operate at every school except G.D. Cushing School in Wilton, which does not have regular after-school programming. Hutchins said the program has helped ensure students participating in extended activities have access to food later in the day.

“We’ve had some good success with our after school program’s after school meal programs,” he said. “It’s nice to be able to provide those students with some nourishment after school, especially if it might be six, seven, eight o’clock before they get home at night for a meal.”

Hutchins told the board there have been no confirmed changes yet to federal nutrition program requirements, though discussions have included potential adjustments such as allowing whole milk in schools. He said regulatory changes typically take about a year to be implemented.

In addition to program oversight, Hutchins said the district is transitioning to new menu management software called Menu Freedom, which is expected to improve menu planning efficiency and provide expanded access to nutritional information for families and students.

An earlier system proved difficult to use, prompting Hutchins to seek alternatives.

“The more I worked with it, the more frustrated I got with it, so sometimes you got to just figure, OK, when do we cut bait here and explore other opportunities,” he said.

The new software will allow users to view menus and detailed nutritional information for each item. Hutchins, who is a chef, said it will also help ensure menus meet federal nutrition standards.

“A lot of people don’t realize … it’s not just vegetables,” he said. “We have to serve x amount of red orange vegetables and x amount of leafy green vegetables, x amount of starchy vegetables throughout the week, legumes. All those different subgroups have to be met as well. So it’s very complex.”

Hutchins said building the system will require significant effort, including entering and verifying thousands of food products and recipes used throughout the district. He said the goal is to have the software operational by September, along with an eight-week rotating menu cycle designed to improve efficiency and reduce repetition.

The software is expected to reduce time spent on menu planning and allow Hutchins to spend more time working directly with kitchen staff and students.

“It’s going to simplify that process every month for me,” he said.