Reducing waste generated by school lunches?

In an effort to save costs and reduce the number of employees many school systems have fired their lunchroom dishwashers, sold off the equipment, and are serving lunches on styrofoam trays that cost about 11 cents each. The New York City school system alone dumps 850,000 pieces of non-biodegradable styrofoam into landfills or the ocean each day that school is in session. Multiply that by all the school systems in the US using styrofoam, and that’s a whole lot of non-biodegradable waste.
Added to that, the manufacturing of styrofoam trays requires crude oil as an ingredient of the styrofoam.

If you can’t rehire dishwashers, buy washable trays and dishwashing equipment, what can you do? For many children who eat lunch at school, this is the only food they get to eat all day.

Has anyone’s school system found an affordable alternative to styrofoam?