The Lanesboro School Board approved a contract with food service company Taher, at their July 10 meeting. After putting out an RFP (request for proposal), a single proposal was received from Taher. Following the requirements, a point system was used to evaluate the proposal with Taher receiving a total of 93 points. The contract is pending approval of MDE.
The school had decided to ask for a fixed price proposal. The price came back at $388,310; last year revenues were $400,000. The challenge with the fixed price proposal is that a small fluctuation in students using the food service will impact the revenue a lot. The school will still be responsible for the equipment expense.
According to Superintendent Matt Schultz, Taher seems to be a very professional company; they had good recommendations from area schools which contract with them. The contract is an annual contract which is renewable for four years. Schultz opined that the fact that the RFP was for a fixed price may have affected the number of proposals.
Local staffing will be done by Taher. As a result, the board needed to terminate all the current kitchen staff. The staff may apply for jobs with Taher.
Benefits of going with an outside food service will include the possibility of offering a salad bar and ala carte selections for students who want more food. Schultz was impressed with the professional development offered to the food service staff. Taher will now be responsible for budgeting.
Lanesboro already ordered food commodities for the year; the cost of those will be deducted from the contract bill. Board Chair Christine Troendle commented that she was curious to see what the students see in differences this coming year.
With a good food service balance which can only be spent on food services, Schultz noted that the school was in good shape going into the fall. Changes in state requirements now allow the purchase of cafeteria furniture with the fund; Schultz shared that they had ordered some new high top tables and other tables.
Handbooks Approved
The board approved both the middle school/high school handbooks, the elementary handbooks and the employee handbook after discussion. Schultz pointed out that the only change in the elementary handbook was a new emphasis on transportation. A student needs to bring a note from a parent if they intend to ride a bus other than their designated one. If a student has multiple guests planning to ride with them on their bus, it needs to be cleared with the office 24 hours ahead of time. This emphasis became necessary because the buses are quite full.
The high school handbook has a change in wording regarding cell phone rules. The handbook formerly stated the parent must pick up the student’s phone in the office after multiple offenses; now it says may.
The employee handbook clearly states that the handbook is not a contract. Changes were made regarding employee background checks and the need to yearly answer questions regarding the past year. These procedure changes were just made this summer.
Reports
In the facilities report, Schultz noted that a $44,730 dehumidification unit has been added to serve the four elementary rooms on the second floor. A large tree has been ordered to be planted to shade one of the rooms as well.
The HVED report told of the progress with the remodeling of the newly purchased building. The design plan was sent to the state for approval. The board is dealing with tenant contracts and their leases in the building as they prepare to actively remodel the portion of the site HVED will be using.
Training on the Apptegy app for Lanesboro’s staff has been scheduled for the fall so they can better use the app to communicate with parents and students.
An electrical engineer will be reviewing the planned site for the electric bus charging station.
A new digital sound system with wireless mikes has been installed in the gym. According to Schultz, it is a great improvement.
Schultz shared that the school desperately needs two van drivers for the coming year. In order to meet requirements in IEPs some students must be transported in vans. The hourly rate is $27.48 for drivers. A suggestion was that perhaps four people might want to split the duties to provide more flexibility.
Other Business
In other business the board:
• Accepted the resignation of elementary teacher Jordan Anderson;
• Set daycare rates with a 4% increase; the 40 hour week will change from $3.65/hour to $3.80/hour for infants while the toddler rate will change from $3.40/hour to $3.54/hour;
• Approved the Long-Term Facilities Maintenance Plan; the plan currently spends about the same amount as it takes in;
• Called for milk bids for the coming year.
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