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Post by title1parent on Apr 27, 2009 21:19:36 GMT -5
A new company will serve students their school lunches starting next fall. The district recently called for bids on its food service contract and Chartwells was selected for the 2009-10 school year. The contract with the district's current provider, Sodexo, ends June 30. In addition to moving to Chartwells, the district will start the National School Lunch Program beginning this fall, which is expected to save approximately $500,000.
While new to Indian Prairie, Chartwells has been in the food service business since 1975 and currently serves 2.5 million students each day in 600 school districts. The company is committed to creating a premier lunch program for Indian Prairie. "Eat, Learn, Live" is the company's guiding philosophy and compliments the direction of the district's nutrition and wellness plan. Chartwells will provide the district with an on-site chef and a food service director who is a registered dietician. In addition, Chartwells will partner with the district to continue to enhance its "green" initiatives in the lunchroom.
There will be no change in the cost of school lunches when Chartwells begins service in the fall. Any money left in a student's account at the end of this school year will be rolled over and applied to the student's lunch account for next year.
For more information, contact Karla Zozulia, director of support services at karla_zozulia@ipsd.org.
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Post by title1parent on Apr 28, 2009 4:16:43 GMT -5
www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=289598&src=76Dist. 204 selects Chartwells as new food service provider By Melissa Jenco | Daily Herald 4/28/2009 Indian Prairie Unit District 204 has signed on with a new food service provider, but the cost of lunches will remain the same next year. The school board on Monday unanimously approved a one-year contract with Chartwells School Dining Services, a company under the umbrella of North Carolina-based Compass Group. The move ends the district's longtime partnership with Sodexo. The switch was spurred by the contract with Sodexo expiring June 30, as well as the district's decision to join the National School Lunch Program in the fall. The program will save District 204 about $500,000, but also requires it to request bids from food service providers. Chartwells was the lowest of three qualified bidders with a total estimated cost of about $5.94 million for the 2009-10 school year. Aramark came in second at nearly $6.2 million, and Sodexo was the highest of the three at about $6.25 million. Chartwells' philosophy is "Eat, learn, live." Its parent company manages more than 575 school district food programs. "With Chartwells, there will be no compromise in safety or quality of meals served," said Karla Zozulia, director of support services for the district. "The same attention will be given to students with food allergies as received now. Chartwells will be a strong partner to the district's wellness and green initiatives." The cost of lunches will remain the same and students with money in their accounts when school ends can roll it over to next year. One change middle and high school students will notice - because of participation in the national program, not a change of providers - is that their $2.30 will buy them an entree, two sides and a milk rather than choices from the current a la carte system. Ending the district's partnership with Sodexo was a sad prospect for some board members who estimated the Maryland-based company has been the district's food service provider for at least 15 years. About a dozen employees in Sodexo shirts were in the audience Monday. "Their service to us has been phenomenal," board member Jeannette Clark said. "They have changed with the times in order to accommodate our needs as we grew and as we expanded our services to our students." Sodexo employees will have the option of moving over to Chartwells and continuing to work in District 204. Zozulia said they will be able to keep their same pay rate with a 3 percent increase and comparable benefits.
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Arwen
Master Member
Posts: 933
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Post by Arwen on Apr 28, 2009 11:07:15 GMT -5
Anybody ever heard of this company? Aramark and Sodexho were both familiar to me but not this one.
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Post by sportsmom on Apr 28, 2009 18:38:29 GMT -5
www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=289598&src=76One change middle and high school students will notice - because of participation in the national program, not a change of providers - is that their $2.30 will buy them an entree, two sides and a milk rather than choices from the current a la carte system. At the MS and HS level the kids have 2 choices? Either the full lunch for $2.30 or to pack? I hate that. It doesn't work with the current lunch model. At the MS tables that are called last have no time to eat. My MS'er always pack/buys and packs her lunch according to how late her table will be called on any given day. It also seems like a waste of food. How many kids are going to eat the sides? I know it's mandated by the program, and the District is getting saving by using this program, but I can see a lot of food waste which isn't right, either. Personally, the District should get rid of hot lunch entirely, but I don't think it's legal anymore with the rules re: low income families and requirements for schools to pay for their lunches and breakfasts.
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Post by WeNeed3 on Apr 28, 2009 19:32:48 GMT -5
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Post by sportsmom on Apr 28, 2009 21:36:08 GMT -5
Thanks. Hopefully the Sandwhich Central is appealing. I know my high schooler thinks the sandwhich options at WVHS are pricey. I think the food should be Subway comparable and I guess it's not.
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Post by title1parent on May 3, 2009 7:38:18 GMT -5
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/opinions/1555578,6_4_NA03_EDITORIAL_S1.article So what do you want us to eat for lunch, Uncle Sam?May 3, 2009 Sun Opinion The people who always complain that local governments give up a lot of autonomy when they line up at the federal trough can point to the National School Lunch Program as a case in point. The deal for school districts is that they get a larger subsidy from the federal government if they join the program. Nationally, some 99 percent of schools participate in it. Locally, Indian Prairie School District 204 just joined the program for the next school year. It did so when the lunch program it has now, which is intended to be self-sufficient, ran a $546,000 deficit last year. Moreover, the district's lunch contractor of some 15 years, Sodexo, is at the end of its current five-year contract. In bidding the program for next year, Sodexo lost out to Chartwells, a division of the Compass Group, which has been in the food service business since 1975. Chartwells manages food services for 575 school districts, though very few in Illinois, and serves some 2.5 million meals to students each day. Chartwells says it intends to make District 204 a premier program to showcase what it can do to other districts. Financially, the program looks good for the district. Chartwells bid $300,000 less than Sodexo for the year. Moreover, the district will be reimbursed 37.5 cents for each of the meals students buy and for the entire cost of free meals provided to low-income students. Should the district be able to increase participation in its lunch program to 60 percent, versus the 37 percent of elementary students and 49 percent of the secondary students it has now, these reimbursements from the feds could climb as high as $800,000. However, with the carrot of a big chunk of federal dough there is the inevitable stick. Instead of the a la carte lunches that middle and high school students can buy now, they will get an entree, two side dishes and milk -- as outlined by the National School Lunch Program. In a way, this is the perfect example of a federal program. There is no choice and the feds decide what's good for you in terms of nutrition. The upside is that the district can get a large chunk of federal dollars -- although federal dollars to a school district to relieve some of its expenses just come out of your left pocket instead of your right. But, hey, at least it's nutritious.
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