BENTONVILLE -- The School District, after weighing other options, has decided to stick with Aramark as its food service management company for at least one more school year.
The School Board approved administrators' recommendation by a unanimous vote Monday.
Aramark took over the district's food service in January 2009. Its five-year contract with the district ends this summer, so the district requested bids from vendors earlier this year.
Aramark was one of three firms submitting proposals, along with Southwest Foodservice Excellence and Chartwells. The proposals were reviewed by a committee of four principals; nutrition services manager Mary Denny; finance director Janet Schwanhausser; and Ryan Le, a culinary student in the district's Ignite program.
The committee heard presentations from each of the three vendors on April 10. Each presentation included questions from the committee and food tasting. Committee members then scored each vendor in 10 areas.
Roofing
The Bentonville School Board on Monday agreed to the following roofing projects and the costs associated with them. Both projects will be done by Harness Roofing this summer.
• $1,337,030 for the application of a thermoplastic olefin membrane roofing material at Bentonville High School’s South building.
• $225,837 for work on half of the roof at Washington Junior High School.
Source: Staff report
Southwest Foodservice Excellence received the highest overall score of 91.6, beating Aramark's 84.1 and Chartwells' 85.4, according to data provided by Schwanhausser.
Schwanhausser said Southwest Foodservice Excellence presented delicious food that "could not be distinguished from what you would find in a restaurant."
The committee did have concerns about the company, however. Among them was that it does not serve any other school districts in Arkansas. Schwanhausser said she worried the company would not be able to meet the state's strict regulations for food service.
Southwest Foodservice Excellence also sets the threshold for any benefit beyond health insurance at 37.5 hours, she said.
"As you can imagine, our food service workers don't work eight-hour days," Schwanhausser said.
Aramark also provided the best financial guarantee -- that is, the minimum amount that will remain in the district's food service account at the end of the fiscal year. Aramark's guarantee was $583,470.
Aramark has earned high ratings from the principals and has pledged to bring in a full-time chef to improve the taste of its food, Schwanhausser said.
Bentonville was the first school district in the state to outsource its food services when it contracted with Aramark in 2009. Before that, the district's breakfast and lunch program ended with a negative balance each school year, according to Schwanhausser.
The contract with Aramark may be renewed every year for the next five years before the district must put its food services out for bid again.
In other business at Monday's meeting, the board unanimously approved building its fourth junior high school on property the district owns at North Vaughn and Holloway roads in Centerton.
Bentonville's junior high school enrollment has grown about 7 percent over the past five years. Fulbright Junior High School, which opened in 2013, is expected to surpass its capacity of 1,000 this fall. Washington and Lincoln junior high schools are expected to be near capacity by the time the fourth junior high opens in August 2020, according to Tanya Sharp, director of student services.
The school will be built on part of an 80-acre property the district bought last year from the family of the late Rex Grimsley.
NW News on 05/22/2018
