The Manteca Unified Board of Education is holding a special meeting today at 4 p.m. to consider authorizing additional funds for the ongoing renovation of the Nutrition Services Cafeteria and Training Kitchen Facility.

The cafeteria and kitchen facility will be used by the students enrolled in the Culinary Arts program of the Manteca Unified Vocational Academy.

District staff is seeking authorization approval by the board to add $107,000 to the contract with C.T. Brayton & Sons, Inc. which is doing the renovation work. The money will come from the contingency funds set aside for this project and which has been previously approved by the board. That contingency amount was $140,530. Should the board approves this first change order, the remainder of the contingency funds for this remodel project would be $33,530.

The $107,000 would be for the acquisition and installation of audio visual and data equipment which have been requested by the district.

The Culinary Arts program is the first class offered in Manteca Unified’s Vocational Academy, the first of its kind established by the district. The two-year program is open to all 11th graders in the school district. Completion of the program will earn the participants not only a high school diploma but also a Culinary Arts certificate that will increase their employability chances in the food industry. Enrollment in the academy also opens opportunities for the students to take college courses online that will allow them to earn credits that can be applied when they decide to continue their education at a university.

Students in the Manteca Unified Vocational Academy don’t pay tuition fees. The academy is funded in the same manner as other public high schools with its annual budget coming from Average Daily Attendance funding.

While the remodeling of MUVA’s kitchen and cafeteria is ongoing, students are using the third floor of the school district office on West Louise Avenue for their classroom and kitchen instructions. The cafeteria will be run and managed as any business with the students doing the cooking, serving and transactions as part of their Culinary Arts education.