Canal Winchester Schools will expand cafeteria capacity at Canal Winchester Middle School for the 2024-2025 school year by introducing more efficient rectangular tables and using stage space during lunch service, Superintendent Kiya Hunt announced at the May 15 Board Meeting.

The solution will add about 144 seats in the cafeteria, for a total of about 444 seats during each lunch session. This will allow the building to start lunches later and reduce the number of lunch periods during the day. During the 2023-2024 school year, the building will pilot options to address early lunch times and make adjustments to staffing to accommodate the increased number of students served during each lunch period.

The new solution was explored after the district's architecture firm and construction manager at-risk identified cost-prohibitive concerns with plans to expand the cafeteria space.

To maintain structural safety, the expansion would have required preserving most of the wall between the old and new space with limited visibility into the new space. This was found to be not only out of budget but also a safety concern for supervising students in the lunchroom.

"With the simple switch to rectangular tables and creative use of space, we'll be able to make lunchtime work better for our students and staff without incurring exorbitant renovation costs," said Superintendent Kiya Hunt.

The district will move forward with the classroom additions at Indian Trail Elementary, which will allow the district to offer all-day kindergarten in the fall of 2024 and create room to grow at Indian Trail and Winchester Trail for anticipated enrollment growth beginning in the 2024-2025 school year.