I worked as a “lunch lady” at NKSD for 3 1/2 years. Great people to work with- they had their heart in the right place- they cared about the kids. They knew how to hustle.

We worked part time- average shift about 4 hours. We reported to work less than half the days in a calendar year (171). Unlike traditional food services jobs- we never worked nights, weekends or holidays. We were never on-call, etc. In many cases our job was to unpack and warm up frozen corn dogs, hot pockets, burritos, etc.

My dental plan was better as a lunch lady than it was after 20 years in the Marines.

We were in a union with full time- year round- workers who did things like get up on the roof in bad weather and work on electrical or ventilation equipment. The union always wanted better pay and benefits. The school district said they didn’t have any more money. As time went on some were put on split shifts. Lunchtime dishwasher jobs were eliminated. A good part time job came to an end.

If I wanted better pay and benefits I wouldn’t have taken a part time job with summers off, Christmas vacation, spring break, multiple long weekends, etc.