State's OK removes hot lunch hurdle in Dist. 59
Students in Elk Grove Township Elementary District 59 likely will have hot lunches through the end of the school year, now that state officials have given permission for a 27-day contract between the district and its food service company.
Three weeks ago, the food service provider Sodexo said it was exercising a contractual right to back out of its current deal with District 59 on May 1, because it was on schedule to lose $1 million over two years.
Sodexo officials blamed the higher-than-expected costs on having to prepare meals off-site at a school in DuPage County, then transport the food to District 59 schools.
To keep hot lunches and cold breakfasts coming to its 11 elementary schools and three junior highs through June 15, the end of the school year, District 59 needed Illinois State Board of Education approval to enter into a new deal with Sodexo.
The current contract is a standard agreement administered by the state board and tied to the National School Lunch Program, which provides subsidies for free and reduced-price lunches.
Under the 27-day deal, the district will pay Sodexo $3 per hot lunch and $1.95 per breakfast, which is 60 cents and 69 cents higher, respectively, than current prices, said Vickie Nissen, District 59's assistant superintendent of business services.
Sodexo officials said the higher prices will allow them to break even.
However, District 59 will not pass the increase on to students, Nissen added.
The school board is expected to vote on the new agreement March 14.
Nissen said District 59 won't sign another long-term deal with Sodexo, which has had the district's food service contract for two years.
There will be a bid process to find a new provider for the 2016-17 school year and beyond, she said.