Administrative Food Fight

The cafeterias throughout the Woodland Hills School District could be serving different dishes for the 2011-12 school year.

The district is accepting proposals to provide the school’s breakfasts and lunches from food service companies because of contract violations with the current provider, Chartwells School Dining Service, a branch of North Carolina food service company, Compass Group.  

According to Woodland Hills Director of Student Operational Services, Dan Breitkreutz, Chartwells went over budget and violated the 21-day menu. Breitkreutz laid out the menu and Chartwells did not serve everything listed. He said the company had the option to serve more than what the menu provided, but is under obligation to serve everything listed for 21 days.

At Woodland Hills, food service takes up almost three percent of the total budget. Out of a $90 million budget, $2.5 million is spent on food services. And a “good portion” of the money spent is reimbursed, said Breitkreutz.

For any food service provider, Pennsylvania’s Department of Education oversees the contracts and assesses penalties for any violations. Breitkreutz said Chartwells paid in full the amount they over spent, approximately $300,000, and were penalized an additional $60,000 for not following the 21-day menu.

Charise Johnson, a food service representative for Chartwells, said "whatever concerns we've had have been resolved."

“We had our share of struggles we worked through, but everything has been handled professionally,” Breitkreutz said.

For the past two years, Chartwells provided the school’s food. The slew of violations and struggles led the district to start looking at other companies and proposals.

But board member Robert Tomasic wants the district to do more. He said the Department of Education should have penalized Chartwells more money for violating the menu.

Tomasic also said the company did not provide accurate budget invoices on time and they did not provide the necessary health benefits for cafeteria workers. Plus, the management fee, which every provider charges, is $100,000 more for Chartwells than other companies, said Tomasic.

“The district can’t get invoices, [Chartwells] has all these violations and they overcharged, why pay $100,000 more than the next vendor for this company?” he said. “You only can provide food the district can afford.”

Other board members feel the situation with Chartwells was well handled by the district. Marilyn Messina, the school board president, said Tomasic is on the same wavelength as the rest of the board, but he went about it a different way.

“We said if things don’t shape up [with Chartwells] we were going to move on,” she said. “It was the best decision for everyone all the way around.”

She also said the company did provide several benefit options for the employees and “no one was left out to dry.” Breitkreutz said the school district had nothing to do with the benefits and it was an issue between the workers union and the company.

Breitkreutz, who responds to the new proposals, said Chartwells can submit another proposal if it wants to continue working with Woodland Hills. He said he would consider the company's services again if he feels it is the best option for the school district.

“I hope to provide the children and taxpayers with the best program and the lowest possible price," he said.