Woodbridge School District Fires Chartwells School Lunch Provider

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — After a rocky start to the school year where dozens, if not hundreds, of public schoolchildren said they were served moldy or frozen food for school lunch, the Woodbridge school district has terminated its contract with food vendor Chartwells.

The surprise news was announced late Friday afternoon by Woodbridge superintendent Joe Massimino in this letter to parents.

"My administration has met with Chartwells’ representatives on numerous occasions to express our significant concerns, displeasure and frustration. We have repeatedly informed them that Chartwells’ service has fallen far short of our high expectations for the school district," wrote the superintendent. "Today, we notified Chartwells of its termination as the district’s food service provider."

After children said they were served turkey sandwiches and oranges so cold they were frozen solid to the core, and mushy brown carrots and celery sticks, a Chartwells representative was called to the floor of the Sept. 23 Woodbridge school board meeting to explain what went wrong.

However, Massimino said he found her answers "insufficient."

"During the meeting, the Board Members and I found that the answers and explanations given to the questions posed by members of the public and us were largely insufficient. Thus, today, we notified Chartwells of its termination as the district’s food service provider," he wrote.

At the meeting, the Chartwells spokeswoman said the size of the Woodbridge school district was a challenge, saying her company had to prepare 10,000 grab 'n go meals a day.

Chartwells will keep serving school breakfast and lunches for the next 60 days, as per their agreement, he said. In that time, Massimino said Woodbridge public schools will be accepting proposals from other vendors, review them and ultimately choose a new food service provider.

"Traditionally, this process takes a few months and then time is allocated for the new company to transition into our district; we are working to have the selection process completed and a new company in place in less than eight weeks," he said. "While we anticipate bumps in the road that come with any transition of such a significant service for a school district our size, we look forward to moving in a new direction that will put our students’ needs first."

Massimino also thanked Woodbridge parents for being so vocal about the food their children were being served.

Woodbridge schoolkids even received cartons of milk that were past their expiration date, with the milk solidifying in the container. At least one child became ill from the food, throwing up and having diarrhea, said his mother. Even a school custodian signed this petition started by Woodbridge parents to get rid of Chartwells, saying he felt sorry for the children having to eat that food.

Chartwells is a major school lunch provider across New Jersey and the nation. The Woodbridge school district has renewed their contract twice.

Chartwells currently has the contract to provide school breakfast/lunches for 107 school districts in New Jersey. But this isn't the first time there have been serious complaints about their food: In 2014, the food Chartwells served in a Connecticut school district was reported to have mold, human hair, dangerously undercooked meats and even insects, according to this Washington Post report.

Ongoing Patch reporting on the Woodbridge school lunch problems: Woodbridge Schools Investigate 'Moldy, Rotten' Kids' Lunch Issues (Sept. 17)

Woodbridge Sticks With Chartwells Despite Rotten Food Complaints (Sept. 23)

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