The Twin Rivers R-X school board voted in a special session Tuesday night to change food service programs.
For the 2020-21 school year, the district will go through Chartwells for food services. This is a one-year contract, and the partnership will be reviewed again next year.
Dr. Ben Johnson, superintendent, said the district used a waiver available due to COVID-19 to forgo the bidding process, which wouldn’t have been finished before the start of school.
Previously, the district has provided its own food services in house.
Johnson said Chartwells promised to offer positions for all the current employees, and they would still work in the Twin Rivers kitchens.
As part of the agreement, Chartwells will use the district facilities, but otherwise provide everything, including billing parents, filing for reimbursement with the state and ordering supplies.
Johnson said after talking with the district, Chartwells personnel estimated the district should be at a higher percentage of free and reduced lunch than it has been.
According to board documents, the district previously has been at 67% on the program, but Chartwells estimated it should be at 84%.
Johnson said if the district stays at 67% free and reduced, switching to Chartwells will lead to $96,000 in savings, but if it goes up to 84% that would be closer to $192,000 due to an increased reimbursement from the state.
That reimbursement is based on the number of free and reduced meals served.
Part of what led to the conversation is the district’s efforts to reduce expenditures after two years of deficit spending.
Johnson said for the past two years, the food service program has been in the red, but this move will keep it in the black.
Part of that, he said, is Chartwells is in other schools in the area, which allows them to buy in bulk and share between districts as needed.
While the district will be responsible for maintenance if something in the kitchens breaks, Johnson said, Chartwells may be able to help find cheaper parts due to the company’s connections.
Another part of the savings is Chartwells would handle employment for the kitchens.
Those working in the kitchens would not be district employees, Johnson said, but would need to follow rules laid out by the district, such as if administration were to implement a mandatory mask rule.
Johnson said he doesn’t know what pay there will be for those positions, but was told they would be “competitive.”
If the district needs to close down for any period over the next school year due to concern over the COVID-19 pandemic, Johnson said, Chartwells would continue to operate to provide meals to students, like the company did at various area school districts they work with.
Should that be the case, he said, the district may want to look at bussing meals to locations in order to improve access.
With the waiver Johnson received, he said, the district will need to conduct a 90-day bidding process next spring, but this gives the district a year with Chartwells to see how things are going.