School District Paid $720,000 for Pizza Machine, Then Took Pizza Off School Menu. The San Jose Unified School District paid $720,000 in 2006 for a machine that was supposed to churn out 800 pizzas a day to sell on various campuses in the district. But the San Jose Mercury News reports that the machine has made only 2,000 or so pizzas in the two years it has been in place. (Cal-Tax: At a cost that works out to $360 per pizza, let's hope the kids got extra cheese and generous toppings.)
One reason for the low output is that the machine breaks down frequently. In the words of a district spokeswoman, it is "sensitive."
Another problem, apparently unforeseen by the officials who approved the purchase: the district doesn't have enough trucks to deliver hot pizza to different campuses in time for lunch, and late deliveries aren't feasible since students have a strictly enforced time period for lunch.
Lastly, the district made an interesting management decision and took pizza off the daily menu shortly after it purchased the costly pizza machine.
Now, the machine is used on a very limited basis – one day a week, for Friday "pizza parties" that rotate among the district's 26 elementary schools. (Source: San Jose Mercury News, April 26.)
Cal-Taxletter, May 1, 2009
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