The regular meeting of the William S. Hart Union High School District Governing Board took place Wednesday night, honoring those lives lost on 9/11 and discussing free student meals in schools.

The meeting began with the observance of the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, with the Pledge of Allegiance led by the Valencia High School ROTC. Board members reminisced about their own memories of Sept. 11, 2001, and reflected on the impact the terror attack had on the nation.

Among other business, board members heard a presentation on the effectiveness of providing meals to students, highlighting the food service program for the William S. Hart Union High School District.

Eric Stender, Food Service Director of Sodexo, highlighted the success of the universal free meal program, serving 14,000 meals daily. California is one of only eight states that supports universal free meals for children, meaning that “all students, despite their economic standing, are able to have a breakfast and a lunch each day.”

Stender reported that breakfast is less popular among Hart District students than it used to be in favor of brunch and lunch, but that change could be directly tied to the removal of more sugary menu items such as pop-tarts.

Stender noted that the district plans to introduce a mobile barbecue truck available for various school sites, as well-as expand from-scratch cooking. At least twice a semester, each school would be visited by a food-truck-style trailer, offering a starting menu of freshly-made hamburgers, cheeseburgers, and hotdogs, with plans to expand the menu later.

Currently, approximately 50 to 55 percent of current meals at Hart District schools are made from scratch, according to Stender.

“I want to expand that even further, because I really believe the students like having the fresh made product rather than something packaged,” Stender said. “We’ll continue to conduct parent and student surveys each semester to receive feedback, and use that direction from them to help guide our nutrition services on what we need to do to deliver what the students and parents are expecting.”

Wednesday night’s meeting was the last for Ralph Peschek, Assistant Superintendent of Business Services.

In other Human Resources news, Hart District officially approved the promotion of Valerie Van Oss from manager to Director of Fiscal Services and Mark Overdevest, Athletic Director of Castaic High School, to Assistant Principal.

To watch the Sept. 11 meeting, click here.

KHTS FM 98.1 and AM 1220 is Santa Clarita’s only local radio station. KHTS mixes in a combination of news, traffic, sports, and features along with your favorite adult contemporary hits. Santa Clarita news and features are delivered throughout the day over our airwaves, on our website and through a variety of social media platforms. Our KHTS national award-winning daily news briefs are now read daily by 34,000+ residents. A vibrant member of the Santa Clarita community, the KHTS broadcast signal reaches all of the Santa Clarita Valley and parts of the high desert communities located in the Antelope Valley. The station streams its talk shows over the web, reaching a potentially worldwide audience. Follow @KHTSRadio on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.