Superintendent Alberto Carvalho taste-tested new cafeteria food options along with the students.
From whole-grain cinnamon rolls to acai bowls, Los Angeles Unified School District students, joined by Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, taste-tested new cafeteria food options on Friday, Aug. 2, ahead of the 2024-25 school year.
Classes begin on Monday, Aug. 12 for the district’s 403,000 students.
Carvalho also discussed the district’s enhanced bus fleet with LAUSD transportation staff on Friday. Some of the district’s 1,300 school buses are now electric, and all of them have Wi-Fi and air conditioning, according to Carvalho.
LAUSD Culinary Innovation Chef Jamie Ginsberg, left and LAUSD Chef Omar Garcia prepare new menu items for tasting during a media event at Belvedere Middle School in Los Angeles on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
LAUSD Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho tastes new food menu items for students during a media event at Belvedere Middle School in Los Angeles on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Students taste new food offerings for students during a media event at Belvedere Middle School in Los Angeles on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Students taste new food offerings for students during a media event at Belvedere Middle School in Los Angeles on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
New food offerings for LAUSD students on display during a media event at Belvedere Middle School in Los Angeles on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Students taste new food offerings for students during a media event at Belvedere Middle School in Los Angeles on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
New food offerings for LAUSD students on display during a media event at Belvedere Middle School in Los Angeles on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
LAUSD Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho shares a sweet potato fry with a child during a media event to tase new food offerings for students at Belvedere Middle School in Los Angeles on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
LAUSD Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho tastes new food menu items with students during a media event at Belvedere Middle School in Los Angeles on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
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LAUSD Culinary Innovation Chef Jamie Ginsberg, left and LAUSD Chef Omar Garcia prepare new menu items for tasting during a media event at Belvedere Middle School in Los Angeles on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The district recently launched its “Transportation for All” initiative, which offers the option of taking the school bus to all students, regardless of where they live in relation to their school. The district has subsequently increased the number of students using school buses from 16,000 to 29,000.
“A child might only live a half-mile away from school, but that half of a mile might not necessarily be the safest,” Carvalho said. “That’s why a guarantee of transportation for that student is so important.”
Carvalho spent Friday morning at the district’s main bus yard in downtown Los Angeles. He then headed to Belvedere Middle School in East L.A. in the afternoon, for the cafeteria food preview. Students tried more than a dozen breakfast and lunch options, and the district will introduce some of the favorites — based on the students’ feedback — to schools in the coming months.
