Food
Services
Chartwell’s
is committed to improving the quality and nutrition of school meals for the
students in
The
Balanced Choices program: This is a nutrition education program that Chartwell’s has created to help
students identify more nutritious food selections and practice a healthy
lifestyle. These meals have been designed and nutritionally analyzed by
Chartwell’s dieticians.
USDA
nutritional guidelines: Parameters for meals set by USDA for grades 7-12 call for
825 calories (plus or minus 10%), 30% maximum fat content, 10% maximum sat. fat
content, and recommendations for other nutrients that you can reference in the
handout. Our meals must have five components. A protein, a starch, a fruit, a
vegetable, and a milk. Students are only required to choose three out of the
five components.
USDA
government commodities: We receive USDA commodities which are free to us except for
a delivery fee. These foods are intended to help keep the food cost down in the
Child Nutrition programs. Unfortunately, the amount of food we receive on a
monthly basis has decreased in the last year. Some of this may be due to the
war and to Katrina relief. Last year in Oct. we received $4,560 worth of food.
This Oct. we received $2243 dollars worth of food. While we are still receiving
a lot of canned and frozen fruits and vegetables we are not getting as much of
the center of the plate items. This means we must purchase these more expensive
items.
Variety offered : As you can see by the
enclosed menus , we offer a wide variety of specials each month with the
Balanced Choices meals indicated. In
addition, both the H.S. and the M.S. have salads, sandwiches, wraps, soup,
pizza, burgers and chicken patties offered every day.
Alacarte offered: We have a limited
amount of alacarte items served on the line. They include a slush product that
is 100% fruit juice. Also, we sell sunflower seeds, some baked chips, Dasani
water, and the 100 calorie Oreo Thin Crisps. In the vending machines we have a
selection of ice cream, bagged snacks, water, 100% juices, and some Snapple.
More than 50% of the selections are reduced fat, low sugar, baked not fried
items. There is continual, gradual movement to change the preferences of the
students to more nutritionally sound choices.
Universal Breakfast: It has been a
satisfying thing to see the numbers of students that eat breakfast everyday. We
have a universal free breakfast which means every student goes through the line
and pays nothing. We are still able to claim these meals on our state report at
the end of every month and receive reimbursement money for them. Over 300
students a day eat breakfast in the Region. Over 350 in the Town eat breakfast.
POS system: Our Point of Sale
system enables students to go through the lines, get a meal and not be
identified as free or reduced. It is very easy for parents and guardians to put
money on account. We can run a variety of reports to answer parent’s questions
on what and when their child ate.
Percentages of
Free/Reduced approved students: In the Region, 16% of the student population
is approved for free and reduced meals.
Participation statistics: Of the lunches served
in October, 9,666 were full priced meals which sell for $2.00, 1,377 were
reduced priced meals which sell for .40 and 6,471 were free meals.
Composting: All of the schools are
trying to find ways to educate the students about composting. The H.S. has a
very active group and we are working with them to keep styrofoam use at a
minimum.
Staffing of MS/HS: Currently there are seven staff members at
the H.S. and five at the M.S. some of which begin work at 5:30 A.M. and have
been doing so for 20 years or more.
To: Jere Hochman, Superintendent
From: Rob Detweiler,
Director of Finance and Operations
RE: Food
Services – Challenging Break-even
Date: 11/2/2006
Food Services – Challenging Break-even
When the school
districts contracted with Chartwells to provide food services in all the
district’s schools, one of the stipulations was that Chartwells guarantee a
break-even operation. The food service operation has run at a loss each year,
and each year Chartwells has honored the guarantee. For FY04 and FY05
Chartwells reimbursed the district $57,000 and $33,000 respectively to
guarantee break-even to the district. For FY06 Chartwells reimbursed the
district $31,000 for cost overruns.
That guarantee
was based on a number of assumptions. Although not specified in the contract
language, a pivotal assumption was that there would be turnover approximating average
turnover rates for similar operations. One requirement of the contract
specifications was that none of the District’s food service employees would
lose their jobs as a result of an outside management company being awarded the
contract. The plan was that as District workers left or retired they could be
replaced with Chartwells employees. Chartwells hires employees at food service
market rates, which tend to be substantially lower that the compensation
package provided by the District. The assumption about turnover was a critical
element of the financial plan for this contract period because labor is the
largest cost component. As it turns out, there has been very little turnover of
District food service employees, so instead of labor costs going down, they
have been going up.
There are other
areas of financial sensitivity which are addressed in the original contract.
These, in part, include the assumption that a) the value of government donated
commodities will not be less than for the previous year, b) that student
enrollment will not decline, and c) that the types of service will not change
materially. In FY06 government commodities received were $6,000 less than the
previous year, a slight decline in enrollment contributed to $9,000 less
revenue from paid meals, and a sudden change in vending machine offerings
resulted in a $12,000 decline in revenue from that source.
The contract
renewal for FY07 limits Chartwell’s loss to the amount of their management fee.
Losses beyond this will be borne by the district. To this end provisions for
these additional costs of providing food services will need to be included in
this year’s budget adjustments and future years’ budget building process.
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Food Services - Challenging Break-even |
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Staff Salary Costs |
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Chartwells |
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Current
District |
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Difference |
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FY07 projected |
251,264 |
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431,098 |
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179,834 |
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Summary of Benefits |
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Chartwells |
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District |
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A |
Sick Days |
5 |
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12 |
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Holidays |
6 |
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8 or 9 |
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Bereavement Days |
3 |
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3 |
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Personal Days |
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3 |
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Training Days |
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2 |
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Uniform Allowance |
provided |
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$225 |
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Other
Benefits: |
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Retirement Incentive: |
none |
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$
1,000 |
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per year after 15 years |
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Sick leave buyback: |
none |
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$
20 |
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per day if accumulated over 75 |
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Longevity pay: |
none |
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$
600 |
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per year after 10 years |
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$
1,200 |
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per year after 15 years |
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$
1,800 |
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per year after 20 years |
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$
2,400 |
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per year after 25 years |
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A |
District accumulates to 200 days, Chartwells does not accumulate year
to year |
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