District 59 closer to securing hot lunches for end of school year
Elk Grove Township Elementary School District 59 is inching closer to inking a short-term agreement with a vendor to serve hot lunches through the end of the school year, officials said.
Officials have been scrambling to find a temporary provider after Sodexo informed the district earlier this month it was exercising an opt-out clause in its contract after losing nearly $1 million over two years.
Sodexo, which provides hot lunches and cold breakfasts to students at District 59's 11 elementary schools and three junior high schools, is withdrawing from its contract April 30, leaving District 59 without a food provider through the last day of school June 15.
Vickie Nissen, the district's assistant superintendent of business services, said negotiations with Sodexo have yielded a proposal to serve hot meals from May 1 until June 15 at a higher rate than under the existing contract.
The current contract calls for the district to pay $2.41 per meal, while the new agreement proposes $2.80 per meal.
Quotes the district received from other potential vendors were more expensive: $3 and $3.10.
But District 59 may not be able to reopen its contract with Sodexo since it's a standard agreement administered through the Illinois State Board of Education and tied to the National School Lunch Program, which provides subsidies for free and reduced-price lunches.
District officials expect to get an answer soon from state officials about whether a new short-term deal can be struck with Sodexo.
"We are working with our attorney and ISBE to see whether or not it's an allowable option," Nissen said.
If not, district officials say they will pick the next-lowest responsible bidder out of three quotes they received.
The federal government would reimburse the district's costs for free lunches and most reduced-price lunches, but the district likely would be on the hook for some costs of regular-price lunches, officials say.
More than 4,000 of the district's 6,500 students are in the free or reduced-price lunch program.
Sodexo officials told the district they are losing money because of the costs to prepare meals off-site at a school in DuPage County, transport the food to District 59 schools, then store the food in hot boxes until lunchtime.
Talk of District 59 one day getting an on-site kitchen materialized at a school board meeting Monday, when the board voted to pursue a plan to build a new two-story administration building on district-owned land at 999 Leicester Road in Elk Grove Village.
Superintendent Art Fessler said the new building is expected to cost $8 million, but the cost could rise to $11 million if the board decides a kitchen should be included. The issue of kitchen space is expected to be discussed Thursday during a meeting of the district's facilities planning and advisory committee.