Aramark picked by Carson City school committee for food services
A committee designed to look at outsourcing Carson City School District's food service program has tentatively selected Aramark as a provider, district officials told board members tonight. Under terms of a possible contract, district food workers would not lose their jobs.
A contract between Aramark and the district could be presented to the school board by the end of the month.
Three proposals have been on the table, including food service companies Sodexo and Chartwells. The school district will begin a series of negotiations with Aramark to establish a contract.
A decision on whether to hire Aramark ( www.aramark.com) could come at the May 25 school board meeting.
By hiring an outside firm to manage food services, the hope is to get more students eating meals, Superintendent Richard Stokes said.
"Our goal is that we take care of our children in their nutrition," Stokes said.
The overall goals of the a managed food service program would be:
— Increased participation
— Maintain staff, potential for job creation
— Increased food quality and choice
— Expected positive financial impact
— Additional nutrition resources — wellness and education
The district's director of Nutrition Services, Bonnie Eastwood, will work closely with the Armark consultant in the transition, if the school board picks Aramark. Under a contract, the current staff of food workers for the district will not lose their jobs.
"All of our staff will remain employees of Carson City School District," Stokes told the board.
Essentially what the district will be doing is hiring the equivalent of a food management consultant who will work with the staff to make the transition, Stokes explained. The staff will be retained under the umbrella management of the company but will remain employees of the Carson City School District.
There is also the possibility that if the program is successful, more food service workers could be hired, Stokes said. Also, Aramark has said it would invest $150,000 in capital improvements and provide a marketing campaign to get the students interested in eating at school.
In making its decision, the committee visited school districts similar in size to the Carson City School District, which had representation of venders Aramark, Sodexo and Chartwells. The districts were in Dixon and Fairfield, Calif., Lake Havisou, Ariz., and Vancouver, Wash.
Parents attending the meeting had plenty of questions, mostly about the nutritional content of food offered through Aramark and whether the district is open to longer lunch and exercise time for students.
One parent asked whether any of Aramark's food would come from local producers. Aramark has told the district they will buy as locally as they can, but they also have a large network of purchasing agents with national contracts, Stokes said.
Milk, for example, will likely remain purchased through the district's local milk vender, he said.
Parent Tina Galhaut said her concern is with nutrition. She asked about the contract timeline. Stokes said if the board picks Aramark, it would have 60 days to terminate the contract. Otherwise, the contract would be reviewed annually and, every five years, the contract would go up for bid.
Though she has remained skeptical regarding food service companies and what they can do, school board member Lynnette Conrad said the district is moving in the right direction.
Other board members expressed the same sentiment.
"I'm for anything less processed. Fresh is good," school board member James Lemaire said.
While the choice of Aramark is "a step in the right direction" parent Sarah Marshall said "this is just not good enough."
She told the board there are other nutritional and sustainable food models that exist and that she hopes Aramark and the district would re-visit those nutrition models in the future.
"I really think we need to take it a step further and be visionary," she said. "I think we can do better than this, if not this year maybe next year."
Parent Mary Works urged the board to re-visit the amount of time students are given to eat and exercise when it considers a contract with Aramark.
"I applaud your efforts in making this about nutrition," she said. "We need to be moving forward with this, if not today, then soon. We are a nation that faces many many ills (regarding childhood obesity and diabetes) and these kids really need our help.
"It doesn't matter what you put in front of them if they don't know how to make a good choice," Works continued. "A huge part of this is education. It is on parents, teachers, all of us ... Part of saving the earth is what we put in our bodies. Maybe we can work together to teach our children to make better choices."
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