Starting at the beginning of next school year, students in Humboldt County will be offered a new dining experience that goes back to a more scratch-made style of cooking.
The school board approved a contract with Chartwells at Tuesday's meeting and the company will be in town on June 2 to start making changes. Chartwells serves K-12 schools, independent schools and even colleges and universities and makes a commitment to serve not only the schools, but also the communities those schools are in.
Superintendent Dr. Dave Jensen said he is excited about the change and thinks it will be a good transition for the district.
"I am in very strong favor and support of giving this a try," he said.
The district currently uses the Preferred Meal System (PMS) which offers students a pre-packaged meal that is heated up on site. While it requires less manpower, the participation has dwindled so much that it is no longer cost-effective. Jensen said the district currently runs at about a $200,000 deficit for food service each year under PMS. The staff won't even eat the food, Jensen said, and that's something he wants to work toward changing with Chartwells.
When the district initially put out a request for proposals, three companies came out for the mandatory tour of facilities, but only Chartwells followed up with a complete proposal. Jensen said the company seems very interested in engaging the community.
"They made it very clear," he said. "The want to engage not only Humboldt County School District, they want to engage Humboldt County."
He said the company will be investing $200,000 into new equipment for the district, which they will begin to recoup through a built-in 14 cents in meal prices. Costs for the school district are: $1.60 for breakfast, $2.40 for lunch and $2.40 for afternoon snack. The price for students will remain the same at $3 for younger students and $4 for high school students. The numbers for the district are five cents less than the preliminary figures given, Jensen said.
"We have initiated a good savings time line," he said.
Under the new food service, Jensen said the district should only run at a $30,000 deficit. He said Chartwells has even offered to write the district a $75,000 check at the beginning of the year, and if the deficit is over $30,000 at the end of the year, it can be taken out of that check.
As far as staffing is concerned, Jensen said the current food service staff in the district will remain and Chartwells will hire two employees to manage the program. The staffing situation was another reason the company seemed like a good fit, according to Jensen.
"It's a better cost analysis than PMS, a better meal and gives recognition to current staff," he said.
As part of its proposal, Chartwells created a 21-day sample menu for the district. The menu included meals like homemade chili, sloppy joes, chicken Parmesan, teriyaki chicken bowls, stir fry and lasagna.
"We are going to start to see again that scratch component," Jensen said.
He said the company also wants to plan a parents' night to sample food so that the whole community is involved in the district's food service program.
"They do want to engage our parents ... and our students and find out what they like," he said.
The company is also committed to community outreach and has several programs in place that they plan to bring to Humboldt County. The first is the Weekend Backpack Program which identifies 15-20 students and provides them with a backpack full of food to feed a family of four for the weekend. The second is the Rural Food Scholarship Program which sets aside $5,000 for rural schools to provide more meal options for students and their families.
"They are looking for the opportunity to engage with us," Jensen said.
Under the terms of the contract, the district will not be locked into anything beyond a year. If the community is not satisfied with the service after the first year, it can back out and even purchase the equipment at the remainder of the cost. If the district decides to stay with Chartwells, it can do so for the next four years automatically without seeking another proposal.
Contact Jessica Powell at j.powell@winnemuccapublishing.net.
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