Daniel Thompson, an eighth grade student, makes his side salad to go with his pizza as Ryan Shontz, of Slippery Rock, serves pizza at Butler Intermediate High School Monday, Dec. 12. Shontz said pizza is the number one food in the cafeteria. Cary Shaffer/Butler Eagle

BUTLER TWP — Food service officials referenced Starbucks and Chipotle as restaurants they may emulate in the coming year in their cafeterias.

These pitches to the Butler Area School District school board weren’t made by restaurateurs trying to create a new business, but administrators of the hospitality company Aramark, based in Philadelphia, at meeting at the start of the 2022 school year.

Vanessa Mowrer, general manager of Aramark Student Nutrition, said the company plans to listen to student wants and needs to craft meal options in its first year as Butler school district’s food service provider.

Stephen Dobransky, principal of Butler Intermediate High School, said the transition between food service providers has been seamless from his perspective — a perspective students seem share.

“It’s a nice variety, but they have a few consistent options,” Dobransky said. “There have been no big changes. I haven’t heard any complaints from students.”

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