School food workers in high demand with dozens of open positions

INDIANAPOLIS — Before the sunrises, a team of five ladies shows up at Winchester Village Elementary School on the south side of Indianapolis off of U.S 31.

The workers will feed about 380 kids breakfast beginning at 7:30 a.m. The lunch lines open at 11:06 a.m. and end at 1:45 p.m.

About 460 are served lunch in the cafeteria.

Carolyn Butler is on her 23rd year as a member of the food nutrition team at Winchester Village Elementary. She’s a self-proclaimed “lunch lady.”

“When my kids were young this is the perfect job, because I could be home with them when school was out," Butler said. "I was home with them in the summer and for any mom out there that wants to get out of the house and make a little bit of money and still spend time with your kids this is a great place to be."

MSD Perry Township needs more workers in the cafeteria. The staffing level has yet to return to the numbers seen before the pandemic.

Right now, they could hire 35 people across the school system.

Erin Coleman is the Child Nutrition Director for the MSD Perry.

“It's very meaningful and rewarding that for some of these students this might be the only food that they receive for the day," Coleman said. "The meal they get here is the nutrition that there able to receive to help them grow and learn. That in itself is one of the biggest benefits Knowing that we are really making a difference."

The district has an enrollment of about 16,000 kids of which 7,500 students are fed breakfast everyday and 12,500 eat lunch.

At Winchester Village Elementary a team of five runs the five day feeding operation with lines of hungry minds being served and fed.

The district is hosting a job fair on Saturday, Feb. 4 from 9 a.m. through noon in hopes of filling the open positions.

The event will be happening at Perry Meridian Middle School located at 202 W Meridian School Road.

The starting pay is $15 per hour and could be higher depending on your level of experience.

Eligible applicants could get benefits depending on how many hours you work.