Brownwood ISD is looking at hiring a food service company to take over their nutrition department in the spring with the upcoming departure of district nutrition director Steve Locke.
The district is looking at four major vendors to bid for operation of the food service for the district – Aramark, Sodexo, Southwest and Chartwells. Brownwood ISD Superintendent Reece Blincoe is visiting with these companies, and they are filling out the food service application through the Texas Department of Agriculture.
On the current timeline, bids will be due from the companies by November 26th and the board will make the final decision in December.
During the process of looking for a food service company, the district will narrow its decision down to two companies and a committee from the district will visit those companies to help make the final decision. The length of the contract of the selected company would be 4 and a half years with an option to terminate each year.
The company selected would begin work over the Christmas break, train current staff and would be ready to take over the district’s food service operation at the beginning of the spring semester in January.
“When the company is selected, they will have to hit the ground running,” Blincoe said.
Blincoe said that under this change, no current food service employees would lose their jobs, and free and reduced lunches will continue under the current model.He also said that all current nutrition employees can remain employed with the district or become employees with the new company.
“People are going to have to make that decision themselves. If they want to stay with us, they can stay with us as long as they are employed,” Blincoe said. He said that it will be possible for a district employee to retire if they have enough years and they become employees through the company at the same job.
Any future hires in food service for the district will be employed by the new company and not district employees. Through this, eventually the district will have no employees in food service and they will all be employed through the company, but the transition will take some time and no workers will be let go or forced to change.
Venus Tischler with the district’s nutrition department spoke to the school board on behalf of the food service department Monday expressing her concerns over hiring a food service company.
“We are worried about how our kids are going to be taken care of,” Tischler said. “Companies are in it for money, and we are, with our current menu, at the high scale of calorie count that is allowed by the federal government. Companies are not going to do that, they are going to come in and say what’s the minimum for calories and they are going to do it because it’s all about profit.”
She also expressed concerns over the amount of control the district will have with the food service company.
“They are going to come in, they are going to take control and we won’t have a say as a community, as a board, as a school we will have no say,” she said.
Blincoe later said that the overall issue is not about money, but about food quality and options.
“This isn’t about money,” Blincoe said. “It’s about quality, it’s about increasing the amount of food people are eating, it’s about having more options.”
Blincoe said that these companies will have the ability to put in certain types of national brand kiosks such as Chick-fil-a or Papa John’s if the district wishes.
Board members stated that currently, overall satisfaction with the food being served at the district is low as expressed by students through surveys and comments.
“Whatever is happening now is not working,” said school board member Eric Evans.
Blincoe told the school board that the district would not pay the company directly for food service, but he needed to get some clarification on exactly how the company would be paid as they move through the process. He did say that hiring a food service company would be a net savings to the district in the end.
The hired company would be contractually bound to survey parents and students on the quality of food they are being served.
“It’s a very complex matter, it’s a very interesting matter; it effects a lot of lives, students, parents, workers, everyone,” said BISD School Board President Michael Cloy. “I want to make sure we are doing our homework.”
Blincoe said that the change would not affect free and reduced lunch students and that the district would maintain control over those matters.
“Free breakfast will always be served,” Blincoe said. “We get to tell the company what we are going to do.”
Blincoe said that meal prices will slightly increase over the next few years because they are regulated by the government, and this increase will occur whether the district hires a company or not.
“This is about our kids getting nutritious, healthy meals that will help them learn,” Blincoe said. “Do we want to stay in the black, sure, but we want kids to eat and we want to provide a very good service where kids are eating food, that is what this is about.”
Blincoe said that given the circumstances with Locke’s departure, the district is left with little or no other options at this time.
