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Lebanon schools to end 41-year Aramark facilities contract, bring custodial and maintenance staff in-house
Summary
The Lebanon Community School Corp. board acknowledged termination of its long-standing facilities management contract with Aramark and approved steps to acquire equipment, hire staff locally and apply prepaid-supply credits toward equipment costs.
The Lebanon Community School Corporation acknowledged termination of its 41-year facilities management agreement with Aramark and approved steps to bring buildings-and-grounds staff and operations directly under district control.
The move, announced May 20 during the regular school-board meeting, follows recent state legislative changes affecting property-tax revenue. "This contract is this year worth just shy of $1,200,000," said Mister Dennis, a district staff member who presented the item. He told the board that roughly $300,000 of that amount represents prepaid supplies and that the personnel and work-ticket-management portion of the contract is roughly $800,000.
Board members approved a motion to officially terminate the Aramark agreement with the company’s final day of service set for June 30. The administration proposed buying Aramark-owned equipment on site — "approximately $150,000 worth of equipment," Dennis said — and applying roughly $50,000 in prepaid-supply credit against the equipment balance. The administration also told the board it will post and fill district positions to replace Aramark staff and said Aramark employees are welcome to apply.
Why it matters: district leaders said limits on property-tax revenue enacted this year make reducing recurring operational costs necessary. The administration presented an estimate that bringing the staffing in-house could cut facilities staffing and contract costs by an estimated $250,000–$300,000 annually, primarily by eliminating the contractor markup and shifting supply-accounting practices.
Details and next steps: the board passed a motion acknowledging the termination and authorizing the administration to proceed with transition tasks, including interviews for new buildings-and-grounds leadership, purchase negotiations for equipment remaining on campus, and applying the prepaid-supplies credit to that purchase. Mister Dennis said the district will follow contractual termination steps and that discussions with Aramark occurred in April when the district began evaluating the financial impact of the legislative changes.
The board’s vote was recorded as an affirmative voice vote; administration materials and the meeting record show unanimous approval. The district will present staffing plans and equipment-purchase details to the board in coming weeks as it prepares to operate facilities internally after June 30.
