School board approves multiple food and cafeteria-equipment awards after rebids and legal review

The Tangipahoa Parish School Board on June 24 approved a set of procurement awards covering small cafeteria equipment, milk products and frozen frozen foods after staff reissued two contests following vendor protests and outside legal advice. The board voted, by voice, to accept administration recommendations for the three agenda items.

School business staff said the annual small cafeteria-equipment bid covered 124 individual items and used an item-by-item award. A staff member from the child nutrition department told the board the winning items were spread across four vendors: Hubert (55 items), Singer (49 items), Economical (19 items) and Sam Veil & Son (1 item). The board approved the tabulation after a motion made by Mr. Piazza and seconded by Ms. Rose.

The board also approved the district’s milk-and-milk-products contract after a rebid. Child nutrition staff said the original April award to Borden’s Dairy was put on hold when Kleinpeter challenged the tabulation, arguing the award should consider equal carton-and-bottle quantities. The district consulted Jennifer Shea in the Legislative Auditor’s Office, which advised rejecting the initial awards and rebidding with explicit usage quantities. When officials reopened the contest on June 17, all three bidders lowered prices and Prairie Farms (listed in the transcript as Prairie Forms/East Side Jersey/Prairie) emerged lowest; staff told the board the rebid will save the parish close to $100,000 over the originally opened prices. A board member praised the outcome and the district’s move to centralize bids, noting the rebid process produced lower prices.

On the frozen-foods bid — an all-or-nothing solicitation covering roughly 200 items — staff said Gold Star (Pond Foods) omitted bids on six items, creating an uneven comparison with S and W Wholesale of Hammond. After the supplier challenge, the district rewrote the bid to require offers on all items or face disqualification; S and W Wholesale was the low bidder on the rebid and the board approved awarding that contract for the school year. Board members discussed whether future solicitations could split large, high-volume items among multiple vendors or award multiple vendors to reduce delivery risk and capture occasional low prices; staff said state bid advertising and the way the current solicitation was structured limited such splitting this year, but they will consider multi-vendor/tiered approaches for future solicitations.

Board members and staff repeatedly emphasized they were awarding price lists and establishing contracts for anticipated purchases; purchases would be made as needed under the awarded contracts. Several board members commended staff for outreach and for using the state central bidding site, which they said increased vendor participation.

The motions to award each item passed by voice vote with the transcript noting “motion carries” for each procurement item.

Less critical details: board members asked whether awards preclude future purchases from other vendors (staff said not in the broader sense — awards control purchases under the specific solicitation for the school year), and asked whether a multi-vendor “tiered” approach could be adopted in future procurements.