As Food Service Director for Northville Public Schools, Carrie Morfino oversees food service operations for over 7,100 students across six elementary schools, two middle schools, one high school, and one special needs school. With that many daily meals, keeping all the refrigeration equipment running properly is critical.

The problem? Directors can’t be everywhere at once. "I'm not at every location every day,” Carrie explains, “I have staff at the locations often, but not every day since they don't work weekends."

"We have a lot of coolers and freezers, but we didn't have a way to be notified that they weren't working properly until an employee could visually see there was a problem. Over a weekend, overnight, or during holiday breaks, nobody would know until we came back that there was an issue." Without eyes on the equipment 24/7, problems could pop up at any time.

And they certainly did. "In the summertime, it would happen often. When the power goes out, it often ruins the cooler or freezer, and they don't come back on," Carrie recalls. The worst case? "I've had a whole summer go by without knowing that a cooler wasn't working. When you go in, we had to buy a new one because it was so destroyed from the food going bad inside."

Since Michigan made school lunches free for all students, Northville now feeds twice as many kids as before. That means twice as much food is at risk every day. While Northville did have alarms on their walk-in coolers, as Carrie puts it: "If you're not there to hear them, it doesn't help you."

Manual temperature logs were no longer doing the job either. Every morning, their staff had to check and record temperatures at each cooler and freezer. It was time-consuming and didn't provide any protection during off-hours.

The HPS Connection

Carrie had been researching solutions and talking with her operations team about what to do when the answer came to her. As a long-time member of HPS, a partnership that's served the district for over eight years, she attended an HPS Lunch and Learn event in December 2024.

That's where she discovered Sonicu. "I had been talking with my operations person, trying to figure out what we could do. When I saw Sonicu at the HPS lunch and learn, I thought, 'This is perfect. This works just like what I wanted.'”

What Carrie was looking for was straightforward, and Sonicu checked all the boxes.

• Internet-based system with app access
• Automated monitoring that worked when staff weren't present
• Modern solution to replace outdated manual recording
• Something more reliable than walk-in cooler alarms that no one could hear

Plus, having Sonicu as an HPS partner gave Carrie confidence that she was working with a vetted, reliable solution.

Simple Setup, Customized for Schools

Northville Public Schools rolled out Sonicu's wireless temperature monitoring system across all 11 schools. The implementation experience exceeded their expectations.

"The setup was very easy," Carrie reports. "My IT department handled the hubs without any issues. Installing the sensors in the coolers and freezers was simple to do, and I could access them with my phone. It can't be much easier. Once you've got it set up, you pretty much just let it go and let it run."

Peace of Mind and Real Savings

Each of the Northville locations has about 3-4 milk coolers, which store thousands of dollars' worth of inventory—and that’s just for milk. That doesn’t even take into account any fridges, freezers, and walk-ins that contain food items.

The average school stores anywhere from $5k - $10k worth of food supply in a single cold storage unit. Without 24/7 monitoring, any one of those units could fail over a weekend, holiday break, or summer—just like the ruined cooler Carrie discovered after an entire summer away.

After less than a year of implementation, Northville saw positive outcomes and benefits across the entire district. At the core of it, Carrie noted, "I'm more at ease now that I'm going to know before everything goes bad. I like the dashboard—I can go in and look at it and easily tell what's going on."

Early Problem Detection

Sonicu delivers this level of peace of mind through its SMART alarm handler, which is designed to catch issues before they become disasters.

"We can tell when a certain piece of equipment seems to have a problem over and over that might need to be replaced," Carrie notes. This is made possible by reviewing tracked data and alarm history within Sonicu’s monitoring platform. Ongoing temperature deviations may indicate a faulty fan motor, a clogged vent, or something possibly caused by human error.

For example. Carrie had once received an alert from Sonicu that a cooler had reached 70 degrees. It turned out someone had accidentally removed the sensor, which they quickly put back into place once this was discovered. Without the timely alert, that could have been an expensive oversight.

Unexpected Power Outage Alerts

Sonicu not only alerts Carrie to temperature fluctuations, but also to possible power or network outages. Thanks to Sonicu’s remote alarm notifications, she's been able to send out dispatch help immediately, preventing major food loss.

"I like knowing when the power's out,” Carrie explains, “It doesn't tell you directly, but when all of your equipment suddenly goes offline, you know there's a problem.”

Time Savings for Staff

With operations across 11 locations, the minutes spent checking temperatures add up fast. With Sonicu continuously monitoring every cold storage unit—even after-hours, on weekends and holidays—Northville’s kitchen staff no longer have to worry about manual temperature logs.

"The system does it for us,” says Carrie, “That saves them time every morning."

Compliance Made Easy

"I haven't had the need to use the reports yet, but I like having them,” Carrie reports, “If the health department asks me, I can say, 'Here's my report of that day.'"

This is made possible through Sonicu’s robust reporting suite, located on the same cloud-based dashboard that stores all temperature data across every school location. This reporting suite offers both scheduled and on-demand report generation, so directors like Carrie are always ready for an unexpected visit from the health department.

A Partnership That Grows

Recently, when the Northville School District added a new kitchen, Carrie immediately purchased additional sensors to expand coverage. "Once you've got it set up, you pretty much just let it go and let it run."

Her advice to other school districts considering Sonicu? "I would definitely recommend it. Work with whoever helps you set it up to customize it for schools."

The combination of HPS's trusted partnership network and Sonicu's willingness to customize for the unique needs of schools created a winning solution. From eliminating costly food loss to saving staff time to providing genuine peace of mind, Sonicu has become an essential part of how Northville protects its bottom line while keeping hungry students fed.