Why School Food Solutions?

Our team supports over 75 schools serving more than 40,000 students across the nation to improve their quality of food and service for the past six years. School Food Solutions works closely with state agencies to ensure all state and federal (USDA) regulations are being met, and schools operate in compliance with the many program requirements. We have an experienced team that is dedicated to helping schools provide the healthiest and most economical food options possible. 

How We Help

Compliance & Administrative Support

  • Our team lives and breathes school meal programs. The majority of our school partners came to us from other happy clients. We stay on top of changing USDA & state rules, guidance, deadlines. We take the burden of paperwork off of your shoulders while keeping you looped in to ensure everyone is aligned on compliance. The services below scratch the surface of the support we provide to our school clients.

  • Start a Meal Program

    • If you’re starting a brand new meal program or looking to move away from district-provided food we will help with the lengthy state application process to become a meal program sponsor. As a School Food Authority (SFA), you’ll have control over your program, the food served to your students, and will receive the benefits of federal and state reimbursement directly to your budget.

  • Request for Proposal (RFP)

    • Our team manages all compliant procurement for our school clients. With the addition of another program audit, the Procurement Review, it’s more important than ever to ensure you’re following all the requirements of Child Nutrition Program procurement. We help our clients manage small purchases, Point-of-Sale system acquisitions, and formal procurement such as RFPs for your food vendor. We’ll draft all the documentation, manage the timeline, and wrangle the vendors. We provide onsite taste test coordination and can also train your scoring committee so they know what to look for in proposals.

  • Free and Reduced Lunch Applications

    • We will process all of your Free and Reduced lunch applications. Yes, you read that correctly! We handle all direct certification matching, paper applications, online applications, and email/snail mail your families their notification letters. In October we complete the Annual Verification Process for you from start-to-finish including the back-and-forth with families. We conduct regular internal audits to ensure the work of our eligibility team is clean and correct.

  • Claims for Reimbursement

    • Never miss another deadline. We’ll ensure that your monthly claims are prepared timely. We’ll cross-check your food vendor invoices to ensure they are correct then reconcile them against your reimbursement so you know exactly where your food program stands.

  • Training & Monitoring

    • Our clients have access to our monthly webinars so they’re collecting required Professional Standards training hours. Additionally, we provide an in-depth training for each school at the beginning of the school year so your staff is ready to kick off your program. All programs require an onsite monitoring with accompanying paperwork by February 1. School Food Solutions will come to your campus to observe meals, provide technical assistance and real-time training, and ensure all the required forms are complete.

  • Audit Support (Administrative Reviews)

    • As a School Food Authority, you’re required to go through 2 separate audits once every three years: Procurement Review & Administrative Review. In the event your SFA is selected for either a Procurement Review or Administrative Review, we will prepare all the necessary back-up documentation and provide assistance during state and USDA audits and technical assistance visits including: Offsite Assessment Tools, Eligibility, Civil Rights, Wellness, Smart Snacks, Food Safety and Storage, Procurement, Outreach, and Professional Standards.

  • Consistency

    • Sometimes staff attrition can throw a wrench in your school operations. Meal program compliance is incredibly nuanced, paperwork heavy, and deadline driven. A partnership with School Food Solutions provides consistency year-after-year so no matter what happens to your school operations team, you’ll have us with the historical context of your school’s program and a road map on how to continue forward.

We've established ourselves as the go-to food program consultants in multiple states. We’re happy to provide references across the country!

Our Team

Joe Keeney Headshot

Joe Keeney

Founder

25 years of charter school experience; former President of a national network of charter schools; MBA and EdM in educational leadership.


Tess Bradford

CEO

12 years of charter school experience; former COO of oldest and largest CMO in New Orleans; former Executive Director for Recovery School District of LA; MBA from LSU.


Bob Keogh Headshot

Bob Keogh

CFO

Former Finance Director of oldest and largest CMO in New Orleans; former Director of Procurement and Finance for Recovery School District of LA.


Ryan Gomes Headshot

Ryan Gomes

Former Director of Operations at a K-12 CMO in Northern California; Associate Director of Real Estate at KIPP NorCal; MBA from Dominican University of California.


Kaylee Smith Headshot

Kaylee Smith

5+ years of charter school operations and facility experience; former Director of Lease Accountability for the Louisiana Recovery School District (and OPSB); Master of Preservation Studies from Tulane.


Alison Barker Headshot

Ali Barker

Is a veteran educator working with Santa Monica-Malibu Unified Schools, Louisiana State University, Bard Early College New Orleans, and Delgado Community College.


Kyia Baker

Earned her Bachelor of Science in Computer Science with a specialization in Cybersecurity from Southern University and A&M College. Her academic journey showcases her dedication to enhancing digital security in the evolving tech landscape.


Grace Borja Headshot

Grace Borja

Former Operations and Compliance Manager at San Francisco Bay Area K-12 CMO. Worked in and with schools for the majority of her career - 5 years as a Biology teacher, and 10 years in school operations.


Andee Bowes Headshot

Andee Bowes

Brings 15+ experience in education services. She has worked as a public school teacher, a charter school operations and data manager, and as a product manager for an education technology company.


Claire Coffee

Claire Coffee

Bio coming soon


briana cats Headshot

Briana Cates

MS, RD, LD

Is a Registered Dietitian who earned her Master of Science degree in Human Nutrition from Winthrop University; has 7+ years of experience in school nutrition; former Supervisor of Nutrition Services at Berea City School District; former Nutrition Implementation Consultant for LINQ.


We’re lucky to have our additional seasonal and year-round support staff who keep the wheels moving behind the scenes. Visit our team on LinkedIn and use the Contact Us page if you’d like to inquire about joining us.

Apply For Our Paid Internship Here