5 coronavirus things: UCLA commits to no staff layoffs through June 2021

In this special edition of 5 Things, Food Management highlights five things you may have missed recently about developments regarding coronavirus and its impact on onsite dining.

Here’s your list for today:

New York City’s public elementary schools will return to partial in-person learning on Dec. 7, Mayor de Blasio has announced. Middle and high school students will remain all-virtual for now while special-ed students will be allowed to return to hybrid learning on Dec. 10, he added.

Read more: NYC elementary schools to reopen for in-person learning on Dec. 7: de Blasio

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block has announced that career employees will not face COVID-19-related layoffs through the end of the school’s current fiscal year on June 30, 2021. To make the commitment possible, he credited cost- and job-saving measures an such as employee reassignment program that retrained employees who have less available work due to the pandemic to serve other areas in need. They include dining hall staff who have learned new skills to support the Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center’s COVID-19 surveillance testing program and other dining staff who have been reassigned to prepare daily meals for partners like Village for Vets, which serves veterans through the Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System.

Related:Healthcare foodservice stays agile to stay safe while maintaining service

Read more: UCLA promises no COVID-19-related layoffs through June 2021

The number of students eating meals in the Detroit school district is way down this year, from the 69,500 distributed daily during a typical school year, to about 16,000 a day this fall, when three-quarters of the district’s students are learning online who are being offered free meals for pickup. The declines are raising concerns about students’ well-being as nearly 90% of Detroit students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals due to low family finances.

Read more: Fewer children in Detroit and the rest of the state are eating school meals

Henry Ford Health System delivered family-style meals prepared by FM Top 50 management company Continental Services and its Forte Belanger catering division to 101 cancer patient households across Southeast Michigan. The meals included Michigan salad, brioche roll, honey-glazed turkey breast with cranberry aioli, housemade stuffing, mashed sweet potatoes with cinnamon butter and frizzled onions, steamed green beans with garlic butter, and an assortment of individual pies and tarts for dessert.

Related:One On One With: Determination and a sense of adventure guides dining director through ups and downs of college dining in 2020

Read more: Henry Ford Health System creates two Thanksgiving initiatives

The University of Missouri's campus dining service expanded its services in response to criticism over its handling of dining hall hours for students remaining on campus over the Thanksgiving break after only one dining facility remained open between noon to 4 p.m. the weekend before the holiday. More than 1,100 of the 6,500 students that live in campus residence halls were expected to stay in campus housing over Thanksgiving break, according to MU spokesman Christian Basi.

Read more: University of Missouri adjusts dining hours for students on campus during Thanksgiving break

Bonus: Oklahoma City Schools finds packaging, production solutions for new school meal services

Contact Mike Buzalka at [email protected]