To ensure the safety of children, school kitchens are held to very stringent health and safety standards by the King County Department of Health. Just like any restaurant, the Food and Nutrition Services Department is required to pay for inspections of every kitchen at least annually, and the Health Department may drop in to inspect a kitchen at any time. If a kitchen is used for an extra-curricular activity after school or in the evening, the kitchen MUST be sanitized and cleaned using authorized cleaning products and procedures prior to its next use for preparing and serving student meals.

To ensure school kitchens meet these rigorous safety standards, use of school kitchens by anyone outside of the Food and Nutrition Services department requires approval by the Director of Food Service. The procedure below must be followed to ensure food safety and Health Code compliance. (Please note: this procedure has not changed, but is being provided in writing to ensure everyone has the information needed before requesting use of a kitchen.)

Procedure to request use of a school kitchen

• Facility use forms should be submitted to the particular school district building for approval. 
• The Athletics/Facility Department coordinator will contact the Food and Nutrition Services Office to arrange for Food Services staff coverage.
• A Food and Nutrition Services staff member will be assigned to be on-site during every event to oversee the kitchen operation and ensure food safety and proper equipment operation.
• The group or individual reserving the kitchen will be charged for labor.

*For the reasons listed above, authorized personnel who may access the kitchens without going through this process are current SSD food services employees (and any helpers who work under their direction during the school day), daycare staff assigned to snack duty, custodians for cleaning purposes, authorized inspectors and contractors, and maintenance and service personnel on work order assignments.

Thank you for your attention to this information. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at 206.393.4209.

Kitchen Tours

We are pleased to offer kitchen tours in both our Central Kitchen as well as our satellite kitchens. This is a great opportunity for students to learn more about food preparation, culinary skills and get hands-on experience in their very own school kitchen. If you are interested in scheduling a kitchen tour, please contact us.

Nutrition Services Presentation

Does your school's staff, students or a parent group have questions about the meals served in Shoreline Public Schools? Would you like an overview of the district new nutrition policies? Other ideas are welcome. Nutrition Services staff members are available to give a half-hour presentation and answer any questions you may have. Please contact us for more information or to schedule a presentation.

Public Health-Seattle & King County supports school plans to create food sharing tables and food recovery programs to make donated food available to children and to reduce waste. As a regulatory agency, one of Public Health's roles is to assure that food donation is managed with food safety in mind.

Below are the Shoreline Public School District approved procedures for the School Food Recovery Program (efforts to donate left over foods to a food bank or charitable organization that is tax exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code) and the Share Table Procedure (left over food donations in the cafeteria for other students to consume).

The request for implementation of a share table or food recovery program in your school cafeteria will need to be submitted to nutrition.services@ssd412.org. The request must be submitted for review by the Food and Nutrition Services Department, who will then seek approval through King County Public Health Department. To ensure compliance and food safety, do not implement programs until final approval has been granted.

School Food Recovery Program

Share Table Procedure

Request Form for School Food Sharing Table or Food Recovery Program