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School Nutrition Program information

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How much do school nutrition program jobs pay per hour?

As of Sep 1, 2026, the average hourly pay for school nutrition program in the United States is $21.66, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $18.27 and $22.84 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a school nutrition program?

A School Nutrition Program is a federally assisted initiative that provides nutritious meals and snacks to students in schools, typically including breakfast, lunch, and sometimes after-school snacks. The goal is to support students’ health and learning by ensuring access to balanced meals, regardless of a family’s income level. These programs must meet specific nutrition standards set by the government and are often administered by local school districts. Participation can help improve students’ concentration, academic performance, and overall well-being.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive in a school nutrition program role?

To thrive in a School Nutrition Program role, you need knowledge of nutrition guidelines, food safety practices, and meal planning, often supported by a high school diploma or relevant certification such as ServSafe. Familiarity with point-of-sale systems, inventory management software, and compliance reporting tools is typically required. Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and effective communication with students and staff help you excel in this environment. These skills ensure nutritious, safe, and efficient meal service that supports student health and meets regulatory standards.

What are some common challenges faced by professionals working in a school nutrition program, and how are they typically addressed?

Professionals in School Nutrition Programs often face challenges such as meeting strict nutritional guidelines, accommodating diverse dietary needs, and managing limited budgets. Balancing these requirements while ensuring meals are appealing to students can be demanding. Collaboration with dietitians, ongoing training, and regular feedback from students and staff help address these challenges. Additionally, effective menu planning and creative sourcing of ingredients are essential strategies used to maintain both compliance and student satisfaction.

What is the difference between School Nutrition Program vs School Food Service Worker?

AspectSchool Nutrition ProgramSchool Food Service Worker
CredentialsFood safety certification, sometimes state-specificFood safety certification, sometimes state-specific
Work EnvironmentSchool cafeterias, kitchens, meal prep areasSchool cafeterias, kitchens, meal prep areas
Employer & IndustrySchool districts, educational institutionsSchool districts, educational institutions
Primary FocusManaging meal programs, compliance, nutrition standardsPreparing, serving meals, maintaining cleanliness

The School Nutrition Program encompasses the broader management and oversight of school meal services, including compliance with nutrition standards. In contrast, a School Food Service Worker primarily focuses on meal preparation and serving. Both roles require similar certifications and work in the same environment, but their responsibilities differ in scope and focus.

More about School Nutrition Program jobs

What cities are hiring for School Nutrition Program jobs?

Cities with the most School Nutrition Program job openings:

What states have the most School Nutrition Program jobs?

States with the most job openings for School Nutrition Program jobs include:

Infographic showing various School Nutrition Program job openings in the United States as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 86% Full Time, and 14% Part Time. Highlights an 100% In-person job distribution, with an average salary of $45,048 per year, or $21.7 per hour.

School Nutrition Program Coordinator

Asheville City Schools

Asheville, NC • On-site

Full-time

Posted 7 days ago


Job description

ASHEVILLE CITY SCHOOLS JOB DESCRIPTION

JOB TITLE:  SCHOOL NUTRITION PROGRAM COORDINATOR

GENERAL STATEMENT OF JOB

Asheville City Schools (ACS) operates seven cafeterias for nine schools and currently participates in the USDA Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), where all students, regardless of ability to pay, can eat a free breakfast and lunch each day.  Operational management is contracted with a Food Service Management Company (FSMC), currently Chartwells K12 (A Compass Group company).

The School Nutrition Program Coordinator is directly responsible for the management of the day-to-day operations of the School Nutrition program under the jurisdiction of the School Food Authority (SFA), ACS, and the administrative oversight of the ACS contract with the FSMC.  The FSMC's performance and service delivery is evaluated for consistency with the contractual standard, duties and obligations under which it provides School Nutrition services for the school district. The School Nutrition Program Coordinator performs a variety of managerial, supervisory and administrative duties that ensure the implementation of and compliance with federal, state and local laws, policies, regulations, procedures and standards to support and promote all aspects of the School Nutrition program while closely working with the FSMC. 

Management of this federal USDA program is complex and requires minimum education requirements as well as ongoing annual training.  Understanding of all local, state and federal requirements and development of effective School Nutrition program policies andprocedures that support the mission, vision and strategic plan of ACS will be critical to the ultimate success of the program.

Position reports to the Chief Financial Officer and is a member of the ACS Leadership team.

SPECIFIC DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Contract Oversight

Coordinates with the FSMC to ensure the satisfactory performance of the School Nutrition program.

  • Monitors, supports and evaluates compliance with the FSMC contract by coordinating with the vendor representatives, reviewing operational performance and ensuring contract requirements and School Nutrition program regulations are consistently met.
  • Reviews FSMC operations to assure optimal service to students and staff.
  • Cooperatively works with the FSMC to implement or make adjustments to operations to improve efficiency, promote cost savings and encourage waste reduction with the ultimate goal of increased participation.

Financial Management

Supervise and train staff on financial management guidelines that support school nutrition program operational goals and comply with regulations. Assure that internal controls remain in place to safeguard all program assets.

  • Understand the importance of appropriate staffing and scheduling to control labor costs and work with the FSMC to make needed adjustments.
  • Study menu options in conjunction with requirements to control costs while increasing participation.
  • Cooperatively develop special events and programs to bring attention to good nutrition and to increase participation in the School Nutrition program.
  • Track and maintain fixed assets as required by federal, state and local requirements and policies.
  • Assist the CFO with budgeting and prepare financial reports monthly and as needed as well as periodic updates for the board.
  • Audits and reconciles monthly FSMC billing statements for contract and program compliance and invoice accuracy, including use of commodities, prior to sending to finance for processing.

Food Production and Operation Management

Coordinates with the FSMC to ensure high standards for quality food production, safety and service.

  • Assure compliance with all local, state and federal policies, laws and requirements.
  • Cooperatively work with school leaders and staff and the FSMC to assure that the School Nutrition program benefits as many students and staff as possible with the goal of seamless integration in the school day.
  • Assure that communications to (and from) all stakeholders are clear, timely and productive.
  • Recommends purchases, replacements and disposals of supplies and equipment as needed and makes sure work orders are submitted and completed as needed.

Food Security, Sanitation and Safety

Coordinates with the FSMC to establish policies and procedures to ensure food is prepared and served in a sanitary and safe environment. Provides leadership in creating a safe work environment for School Nutrition operations. Coordinates with the FSMC to develop a systematic approach to address emergency and disaster situations.

  • Works with the FSMC to communicate the importance of food safety and assure that all training is complete and documented and that all local, state and federal requirements are met in a timely manner
  • Assures appropriate selection, storage, use and maintenance of chemical supplies and other hazardous materials
  • Assures that both the FSMC and ACS staff are familiar with and included in all emergency training provided by the FSMC and/or ACS and other agencies.

Human Resource Management

Coordinates with the FSMC to support all staff.

  • Work with the FSMC to develop strategies for building a cohesive school nutrition staff through clearly communicated expectations (e.g., CREW, conflict resolution, negotiation, problem solving techniques).
  • Assures that ACS and FSMC policies are communicated and followed.
  • Communicates with HR in the event of personnel issues and concerns.
  • Performs annual employee evaluations for remaining ACS staff in order to provide constructive feedback to staff.
  • Works with the FSMC to maintain current and accurate job descriptions for all positions.
  • Require staff to attend training as needed and offer staff professional development to staff to meet requirements and help them improve and grow.
  • Coordinates with FSMC to assure all staff are trained on point-of-sale (POS) and administrative software to maximize technology efficiency.

Market and Communication

Coordinates with the FSMC to develop a systematic and innovative approach for marketing the School Nutrition program.  Coordinates with the FSMC to establish a communication infrastructure with stakeholders to promote the school nutrition program and attain feedback for improvement.

  • Engages school nutrition staff to actively promote meal programs and increase student participation.
  • Involves district stakeholders in executing marketing plans, measuring participation outcomes, and analyzing results.
  • Builds and maintains community partnerships to strengthen support and engagement for the school nutrition program.
  • Utilizes appropriate communication channels to deliver clear, timely updates to parents, staff, and community members.
  • Celebrate all appropriate milestones and accomplishments within and outside the district as appropriate.

Menu and Nutrition Management

Coordinates with the FSMC to support the nutrition and wellness initiatives within the school district.

  • Works with the FSMC to develop current USDA menu planning options and requirements, utilizing commodities to the extent possible.
  • Works closely with the FSMC to assure all meal patterns, portion sizes and other nutritional requirements are met as required.
  • Confers with FSMC regarding menu planning and service techniques for children with special food and/or nutrition needs, as appropriate.
  • Gathers and analyzes customer feedback to inform menu planning and food selection. Values customer feedback for menu planning.
  • Knows and enforces federal, state and local regulations governing food and beverage sales.
  • Audits menu compliance and daily food production records in coordination with FSMC management and cafeteria managers.
  • Integrates school nutrition services into the district's overall coordinated school health and wellness initiatives.
  • Promotes district-wide nutrition education initiatives in collaboration with school leadership and instruction.

Procurement and Inventory Management

Follows established procurement guidelines that comply with regulations and

support operational goals of the school nutrition program. Coordinates with the FSMC to establish operational procedures to effectively manage receiving and inventory systems.

  • Assures that ACS and FSMC processes and procedures meet all local, state and federal procurement requirements for the School Nutrition program.
  • Confers with the CFO as needed for procurement or reporting concerns.
  • Coordinates with the FSMC to assure appropriate inventory management practices are in place.

Program Management, Compliance and Accountability

Coordinates with the FSMC to meet nutritional, financial and regulatory accountability of the School Nutrition program. Provides leadership to position the School Nutrition program as an integral component of the school district aligned with ACS strategic plan initiatives.

  • Ensures all applications, claims for reimbursement and reports are verified, correct and filed on a timely basis and coordinates and performs as the lead for reviews and audits.
  • Also serves as the lead to assure that any corrective measures recommended in audits and reviews are implemented successfully.
  • Ensures the point-of-sale (POS) system used in the school nutrition program is reliable and provides accurate data in a timely manner and that the interface to the accounting system is working properly.
  • Develops and implements procedures to maintain accurate and appropriate

records that comply with federal, state and local regulations.

  • Performs internal reviews/audits on all aspects of the program to identify and

control potential problem areas.

  • Complies with federal, state and local regulations concerning the sale of

competitive food items.

  • Assures policies and procedures to accommodate children with special food

and/or nutrition needs are being met by the FSMC.

  • Develops guidelines for implementing the components of the local wellnesspolicy that are pertinent to the School Nutrition program.
  • Executes federal, state, and local emergency feeding protocols and manages emergency utilization of USDA foods.
  • Manages applications for summer feeding or seamless summer feeding in conjunction with district plans and FSMC operations, as well as other special grant programs whenapplicable.
  • Informs and assists FSMC with district policies and practices regarding environmentally responsiblepractices.

MINIMUM TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE

PRIOR MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE IN A PUBLIC SCHOOL, SCHOOL NUTRITION PROGRAM STRONGLY PREFERRED!

For an SFA with enrollment of 2,500 - 9,999 students, the School Nutrition Program Coordinator position would need to meet at least ONE of the following:

  • Bachelor's degree, or equivalent educational experience, with academic major in specific areas;
  • Bachelor's degree in any academic major, and at least 2 years of relevant school nutrition programs experience; or
  • Associate's degree or equivalent educational experience, with academic major in specific areas, and at least 2 years of relevant school nutrition programs experience.

Related majors include food and nutrition, food service management, dietetics, family and consumer sciences, nutrition education, culinary arts, business, hospitality management, or a related field.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS OR STANDARDS REQUIRED TO PERFORM ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

  • Knowledge and/or willingness to learn and attend training to attain all necessary skills and/or credentials for successful administration of a federal School Nutrition program.
  • Meet ongoing annual continuing education education requirements as required by ACS, USDA or NCDPI.
  • Excellent interpersonal, communication, analytical, math and technology skills.
  • Understanding of complex and detailed instructions, requirements and recordkeeping required.
  • Must be physically able to sit, stand and walk.  Must be able to lift boxes up to 20 pounds independently, 40 lbs team lifting.  Physical demand requirements are for Light Work.

SALARY SCHEDULE

Asheville City Schools Central Office Administrator Scale

School Administrators II Grade - Coordinators - placement based on related experience