School board postpones outsourcing food service decision

 The Red Oak School Board voted to hold off for a year on the issue of outsourcing for food and custodial services at a meeting last week. 

Outsourcing services would mean those employees would no longer be employed by the school district, but by the company providing services. 

The largest issue discussed was the possibility of employees either losing or having their insurance become significantly different. 

Lee Fellers, school board president, said he feels there are other ways to improve the food services. “I feel a strong need to challenge our food services to provide better quality and choices for students,” Fellers said. “ [Students] recognize the quality of food, so let’s entice them.”

According to Fellers, as of now, a large number of students leave campus for lunch. The board’s goal is to have more students choose to stay on campus because of the quality and variety of foods they’re offered. 

The board also discussed forming a task force to work with food services to develop plans for improvement. Fellers said he would like to include staff, parents and administrators in the task force, and even discussed involving students in order to hear their opinions. 

There are currently less than 10 school districts in Iowa that outsource services. Fellers said he knows it has worked well for some places and some have not been as happy with the results. 

Along with providing better quality food and more choices, outsourcing could potentially save the district money. Since the school district will not provide insurance for those employees, Shirley Maxwell estimates the district could save close to $80,000, based on a quick calculation done at the meeting. 

The district is required to raise the prices of school breakfast and lunch by federal law. For the past few years, Red Oak has only raised their prices the minimum requirement; however, it was discussed that if they raise them a little bit more, it could benefit their plan to improve the quality of food. 

Sharon Foote, director of food services, said if the price were raised around 25 cents, it might be helpful to the district. 

The issue will be readdressed at a later meeting to discuss a possible task force. Board members will reevaluate the outsourcing issue next year.