School Board Retains Chartwells

The Board of Education voted last Wednesday to retain Chartwells as the provider for school lunches in the district.

According to board officials, the Westchester-based company operated through Compass Group, USA, has been providing lunches to Westfield students for years. The contract had to be voted upon by the board as a part of a routine rebidding process for school food. The state allows local school districts to automatically renew with food service providers for several years in a row, but then requires a rebidding process. The board can only provide one-year contracts for food service.

As a part of the contract the board negotiated with Chartwells, the food service company guarantees a return of $51,100 to the school district for providing lunch service in the district.

The contract will keep the elementary and intermediate schools in the National Lunch Program, while keeping the high school out of the program. Board of Education Business Administrator Bob Berman explained to the board the high school is not in the program in order to serve additional lunch options to students, who have the option of leaving campus for lunch as juniors and seniors. He said the additional options are needed to try to keep students on campus for lunch.

As a part of the contract, Chartwells will serve lunch for 168 days during the coming school year at the elementary schools, 177 days at the intermediate schools and 168 days at the high school. In addition, high school students will be served breakfast on 175 days.

High school students will be paying $3 for lunch next year. Students at the two intermediate schools will be charged $2.50 a meal and elementary school students will be paying $2.25 a meal. Milk will be sixty five cents a carton. The reduced-price rate for all student lunches will be forty cents a lunch.