SACRAMENTO, California — What’s lost in the fuss over California’s new $20 an hour minimum wage for fast-food workers is how that increase could impact public schools, forcing districts to compete with companies like McDonald’s and Wendy’s for cafeteria workers, amid a state budget crisis.
The minimum wage law that took effect Monday guarantees at least $20 an hour for workers at fast-food restaurant chains with at least 60 locations across the country. That doesn’t include school food service workers, who have historically been among the lowest-paid workers in public education.
Yet demand for school meals is higher than ever in California, the first state to guarantee free meals to all students regardless of family income. And according to the Department of Education, demand is expected to increase more than 70 million additional meals in California schools this year compared to 2018.
But these jobs tend to have high turnover and are harder to fill. Raising the minimum wage for fast food workers could make that even more difficult.
“They are all very concerned about it. Most say they expect it will become increasingly difficult to hire workers,” said Carrie Bogdanovich, president of the California School Nutrition Association.
Statewide, some districts have already taken steps to compete in the new reality. Last year, in anticipation of the law’s implementation, the Sacramento Unified School District agreed to a 10% raise for its food service and other low-wage workers, followed by another 6% raise on July 1 of this year to boost their to raise wages to $20.00 per hour.
Cancy McArn, the district’s chief human resources officer, said this was the largest pay increase in the district in nearly three decades.
“We’re not just looking at district competition and district comparison, we’re also looking at fast food restaurants,” McArn said.
In Southern California, San Luis Coastal Unified doubled its food service staff to 40 people after the number of students eating school meals increased by 52%. The district prepares 8,500 meals daily for 7,600 students across 15 school locations – breakfast, lunch and even dinner options for youth participating in after-school sports and activities.
The district has since limited the number of entry-level positions, which are the most difficult to fill, while trying to hire more people for complex positions like “culinary leader” and “central kitchen supervisor” that require more skills and hours — making them more attractive to job seekers.
“That has allowed us to be more competitive,” said Erin Primer, director of food and nutrition services for the San Luis Coastal Unified School District.
Tia Orr, executive director of the Services Employees International Union California — which represents both school and fast-food workers — said school districts and other service industries should consider raising wages because of this new law.
“This is a good thing, and it is long overdue,” she said.
But some districts are limited in what they can do. In Los Angeles County’s Lynwood Unified School District, the starting salary for food service workers is $17.70 per hour and a maximum of $21.51 per hour, according to Gretchen Janson, the district’s assistant superintendent of business services. She said these employees only work three hours a day, meaning they are not eligible for health benefits.
Janson says the district is waiting to see how employees respond, adding, “We just don’t have the increase in revenue to provide additional funding for staff.”
Nuria Alvarenga has worked in food service in the Lynwood School District for 20 years. She now makes $21 an hour, but said she could probably make more with fast food.
Although she said several colleagues are considering looking for other jobs, she hasn’t decided yet what she will do. She normally works at an elementary school, but has recently filled in at a high school where she enjoys seeing former students recognize her as they stand in line for lunch.
“I’m so glad they remember me,” she said.
School food service workers have received more support in recent years amid pressure from the state to expand school meals and make them more nutritious. That included $720 million in recent years for upgrades to school kitchens to better prepare fresh meals, plus $45 million to create an internship program to professionalize the industry.
It would be difficult for lawmakers to mandate a pay increase for school nutrition workers given the complexity of the state’s school funding formula. That’s why some advocacy groups, including the Chef Ann Foundation, have proposed a state-funded incentive program that would have given school food workers who complete an internship program a $25,000 bonus, payable over five years.
That idea did not make it into Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget proposal released in January. The state faces a multibillion-dollar budget deficit, limiting new spending.
But pay raises aren’t the only incentives school districts can offer. There is also health insurance, paid vacation, no night or weekend shifts, and a pension that could guarantee a monthly income in retirement. Additionally, school food workers have predictable hours, allowing them to work other jobs if they want – or in the summer when school is out.
“Restaurants are laying off employees. They are cutting hours,” said Eric Span, director of nutrition services for the Sweetwater Union High School District in San Diego County. “I think we need to position ourselves to really talk about some stability.”
Michael Reich, a professor of labor economics at the University of California-Berkeley, said these factors could favor school districts as they compete for workers.
“Working in a school cafeteria gives you more stability, job security and perhaps less stress than working in a for-profit facility,” he said. “So there are a lot of benefits from a community perspective. But that doesn’t mean they don’t also want to get more money.”
