New Food Service May Be on the Menu for Sudbury Public Schools

At a meeting of the Sudbury Public Schools (SPS) Committee on Wednesday, a possible shake up of the district’s food service was back on the table for the coming school year after a rocky start for Chartwells, the provider that won a one-year initial contract with the district in 2011. Mary Will, SPS director of business and finance, recommended that a request go out for proposals from other vendors in addition to Chartwells. The school committee unanimously agreed.

Will reported that challenges early in the year included poor communication from Chartwells management, a slow ramp-up of new and inexperienced kitchen staff, and a drop in demand from students for school lunches due to the unpopularity of some healthy menu options. Despite these issues, the company worked diligently to respond the district’s feedback.

“Chartwells listened,” Will said. “They tried very hard to meet our needs … then we hit the chicken.”

In February, several students at were inadvertently served undercooked chicken. Although none of the children were sickened, the incident was taken seriously by district officials and parents alike. Again, said Will, Chartwells was responsive in making process and staffing changes to ensure that such an incident would not be repeated.

However, “I really feel strongly that we should not just extend the contract, but we should go out and do another RFP (request for proposal) and see what comes up,” she said.

One alternative would be for SPS use the same company that serves , possibly through an independent contract. However, SPS Chairman Jeffrey Beeler advised asking the high school to consider a joint contract with SPS, although L-S administrators had planned to simply extend their existing contract.

“I understand that they do not want to go out (to bid),” said Beeler. “At the end of the day, they have to do what’s best for the L-S school district. But if we go out to bid now, we may remain off-sync with them and lose an opportunity to realize those economies of scale.”

In other news from Wednesday’s meeting, committee member Susan Iuliano provided an update on the Finance Committee’s latest work to wrap up town budgets for FY13 in advance of the Annual Town Meeting in May. SPS remains on track to fund level staffing for next year without an override, although this budget allows for no cost-of-living raises for staff beyond step increases as teachers advance in their careers.

Iuliano reported that there was also some hopeful news for L-S, which is facing a budget shortfall for the coming year due to the skyrocketing cost of special education for students who must be served outside the school. Money may be available from a special school excess and deficiency fund, and L-S has also applied for relief from the state.

While the budgetary woes of L-S are unlikely to impact SPS because they belong to separate cost centers, one possibility if the high school faces a worst-case scenario of layoffs is to reapportion some of the savings realized by SPS through recent changes in health care options for town employees to the L-S cost center.  

“This wasn’t thrown out lightly, but there is concern about what to do if all these other pieces don’t come together to cover the shortfall,” said Iuliano, who acknowledged that a reapportionment would be a disincentive to SPS employees who have already accepted many concessions to maintain a balanced budget. “The next step will be waiting to hear from the state.”

On a final note, the school committee will host a coffee get-together at 9 a.m. on May 5 at Grange Hall to offer parents and others an informal opportunity to catch up with committee members on school issues.