Kearney, Mo., July 17, 2024: Seven Kearney School District schools have earned 2024 Food Safety Excellence Awards from the Clay County Public Health Center:
- Dogwood Elementary
- Hawthorne Elementary
- Kearney Early Education Center
- Kearney Middle School
- Kearney Junior High
- Kearney High School
- Southview Elementary
These awards recognize the top 15 percent of food service providers overseen by the county. In addition, Dogwood, the EEC, KHS and Southview earned Gold Standard Awards for earning the Food Safety Excellence Award three years or more in a row.
Southwest Foodservice Excellence (SFE) provides all services in KSD’s school cafeterias. SFE’s KSD staff is led by Director of Food Service Angie Lyman.
“Congratulations to Angie and the entire SFE team for their outstanding diligence and hard work on behalf of our students, staff members and visitors,” Superintendent Emily Miller said. “This is another example of how we go above and beyond to serve our families.”
The Food Safety Excellence Award recognizes food establishments that continue to successfully follow the Clay County Food Code, exhibit outstanding food safety and sanitation practices, and achieve exceptional inspection results during the calendar year, according to a press release from the public health center. To qualify for the award, honorees must meet multiple criteria such as having been open and operating for the full year with no repeated violations, no follow-up inspections needed, and no confirmed cases of foodborne illnesses.
“We are grateful for the hard work these establishments put in last year to not only meet but exceed the health department’s high standards of safety,” said Robert Gilliland, section chief of Environmental Health Protection. “We appreciate their partnership in protecting our community from foodborne illnesses, waterborne illnesses and other hazards.”
In 2023, the Environmental Health Protection section of Clay County Public Health Center conducted 1,530 routine food establishment inspections and 297 temporary food event inspections, and investigated 114 food-related complaints.