High school nutrition team hires students to combat staffing challenges

The nutrition team at Wayzata High School in Plymouth, Minn., has started hiring students to help with its staffing challenges, CCX Media reports.

Fifteen students from the high school’s work experience class are helping out in the cafeteria. The students are paid just under $17 an hour and receive class credit while on the job.

Wayzata is not the only high school hiring turning to student employees to help combat labor shortages. Kershaw County School District in Camden, S.C., has also hired students to help in the cafeteria at two of its high schools.

Finding workers remains a challenge for school nutrition teams throughout the country. In a survey released by the School Nutrition Association in December, nearly all (95%) of respondents said that staff shortages are an obstacle for their program, and almost 90% of school districts serving more than 25,000 students said labor shortages are a "significant challenge."