MILLSTONE — The Board of Education president refused to hear a presentation from the school district’s food service provider.
President Tom Foley noted fried dough with sugar is among the foods with no nutritional value that Nutri-Serve Food Management Co. provides to schoolchildren. He said the board president has the authority to establish the board’s agenda, and didn’t allow the company to give a presentation during the May 10 meeting.
“If they stopped serving fried dough, then their presentation would be more credible,” Foley said.
Foley had also taken issue with the quality of lunch items that Nutri-Serve provided in 2002. The school district has had a contract with Nutri-Serve for the past decade.
The contract renewal proposal on the board’s agenda asked the board to approve Nutri-Serve as the district’s food service provider for the 2010-11 school year. The contract offers a no loss guarantee to the school district.
Board member Patrick Whalen questioned why the board wouldn’t want to hear from Nutri-Serve. Foley said he did not know that the board was expected to review Nutri-Serve’s contract at the meeting, and thought that the board wanted to put a committee together to investigate other food service providers.
Business Administrator Bernard Biesaida said Nutri-Serve invited board members to a luncheon several weeks ago. Foley said board members should “pop in” to the cafeterias rather than have a pre-established meal.
Board member Kevin McGovern asked what level of feasibility the board had regarding the company menu’s food content, nutrition and quality. Biesaida said the district has policies for nutritional guidelines.
Vice President David DePinho said he would like to hear Nutri-Serve’s commitment to education and take on the childhood obesity issue, but Foley said those are the Board of Education’s responsibilities.
B
oard member Amy Jacobson asked
for the ingredients and nutritional value of Nutri-Serve’s food. While such information is readily available, Biesaida said the district’s food service contract does not specify a level of nutrition.
McGovern said there are also fiscal concerns with extending the contract to Nutri-Serve or any other food provider.
Jacobson noted that Nutri-Serve offers a hold harmless agreement that protects the district if the company does not make money. She would like to see if Nutri- Serve would be willing to upgrade food quality and maintain the hold harmless agreement.
Biesaida said the board has to put a food service contract in place by next month. He said the board could put the contract out to bid because there are other food service providers. He warned that doing so could be “like outsourcing bus drivers” from for-profit companies.
The board members agreed to hear presentations from Nutri-Serve and other companies.
Nutri-Serve serves 76 school districts in New Jersey. The mission statement on the company’s website states that Nutri- Serve provides high-quality, nutritious food and customer service.