Not So Fast: East Haven School Board Approves Food Service Vendor Despite Concerns

By Jack Kramer, Correspondent

EAST HAVEN, CT – After voting not to extend the contract of the school system’s food service vendor in March because of concerns of the quality of food being served, the Board of Education reversed course and extended the pact at its April meeting.

The board approved the extension because board chairman John Finkle said after the March vote to not extend the contract of Whitson’s New England there was a meeting held between Superintendent of Schools Dr. Portia Bonner, Finkle, board member Thomas Hennessey and Whitson executives to address the concerns raised.

Finkle said the meeting was a productive one and the issues that were discussed, included:

-- lack of equipment at the schools;

-- the staffing levels;

-- new varieties of foods being served, such as chicken, hot dogs, and cold cuts;

-- adding an additional person to the food service without additional costs;

-- an ad hoc committee to meet on a monthly basis to review the food vendor’s performance;

-- surveying parents and children about the selection of foods being served.

In March, after several school board members questioned the financing and quality of the food being served in the East Haven schools, the board voted 7-1 against extending the one-year contact of Whitson’s New England, Inc.

At the March meeting, one parent at the school board meeting, Linda Travers, thanked the board for not approving the contract. She told the board that kids were posting pictures of “moldy sandwiches” on social media to show their unhappiness with the meals they were being served.

At the March meeting, Hennessey said it is up to the food contractor to provide a quality lunch for the East Haven school children.

He called the lunch quality “terrible.” He said it wasn’t just the parents complaining about the food quality, but also school officials, including principals, had been saying the same thing.

Bonner warned the school board that if it didn’t renew Whitson’s contract, that there might not be enough time to secure a new vendor for not only the next school year, but this coming summer’s school program.