Dana McClard, food service manager for the Cape Girardeau School District, said few people appear to be neutral on a frequent menu item served district-wide for at least the last two decades.

"The sauce and the flavor, it's perfecto," said Alma Schrader elementary third-grader Xander Young, speaking Thursday of crispitos, believed to be the district's most distinctive food offering.

"They have a perfect taste (and) the meat inside is the perfect filling," agreed third-grade classmate Liam McDill.

"It's spicy," said fellow third-grader Khloe Thomas. "The outside is crispy and it's good."

"We either have students who love (crispitos) or hate them, but the consensus is, students mostly love them," said McClard, a 20-year school district employee, who has been in charge of food for the 4,330-pupil district since 2017.

Cafeteria staff prepare lunch plates with crispitos while students wait to receive them at Alma Schrader Elementary School on Thursday in Cape Girardeau.Sarah Yenesel

Description

"A crispito is a chicken chili wrap mixture in a whole grain tortilla on which you can add various toppings," McClard said, noting all students have the option to customize their selection with nacho cheese, sour cream and salsa.

Beginning in middle school, students can further accessorize crispitos with jalapenos, she added.

"The appeal, I think, is that a crispito is a larger food item; it's more filling and (students) can add their choice of condiment," McClard said.

Volume

McClard said her team, which numbered 57 employees pre-pandemic and is a bit smaller currently because of COVID, makes a lot of the Tex-Mex comfort food.

Cafeteria staff prepare lunch plates with crispitos at Alma Schrader Elementary School on Thursday in Cape Girardeau.Sarah Yenesel

"Since August 2019 until now, we've made 830 cases of crispitos," she said.

"There are 72 crispitos per case, so in the last two academic years, we've served almost 60,000 district-wide," she added.

Mariah Griffith, a junior at Cape Girardeau Central High School, was asked whether there was a distinctive culture surrounding crispitos in the Cape Girardeau schools.

"I've eaten them since kindergarten and (crispitos) are most definitely the biggest item," said Griffith, adding, "whenever it's 'crispito day,' everybody gets lunch, and most people don't get school lunch."

"If you talk to other (food service) directors, some of the districts don't care for crispitos," said McClard, noting Thursday is the most common day for the Cape Girardeau School District to serve the item.

"At our elementary schools, we serve it once a month; at the middle school and junior high level, it's on the menu every other week, and at CHS, students can have it every Thursday," she added.

Assistant superintendent Josh Crowell, whose administrative responsibility covers food service, said during pre-COVID days, CHS students could get into one of six different lines for lunch.

"We have a pizza line and a pasta line, for example, but on Thursdays, two lines are set aside just for crispitos," said Crowell, a 1992 CHS graduate.

Third-grader Shelby Matukewicz eats a crispito for lunch at Alma Schrader Elementary School on Thursday in Cape Girardeau.Sarah Yenesel

"So many kids want them, the fastest way to get them through (at CHS) is to have two lines," echoed McClard.

Remote delivery students

"(Crispitos) are a little messy but we are sending them out for Tigers@Home virtual students with nacho cheese only in our drive-through at the junior high," said McClard.

COVID modifications

Because of pandemic concerns, food is not consumed in the district's cafeterias.

At Alma Schrader Elementary School, for example, students are in their individual classrooms to eat, a protocol the district hopes will minimize any potential spread of the virus.