School board approves yearlong food-service contract after pilot; state places conditions

The Petersburg City School Board on Wednesday approved a one-year food service management contract with Tahir Inc., continuing a pilot consultancy that began in November 2024 and brought professional chefs into school cafeterias to retrain staff and refresh menus.

Superintendent Yolanda Brown presented the recommendation and said the contract runs July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026, and that the district will use federal school nutrition funds to pay the vendor. “The cost is $629,033.35,” Brown said during the meeting.

The contract follows two prior, smaller informal agreements under which Tahir provided two visiting chefs for limited weeks to train staff and develop new recipes. Brown said those pilots increased student participation at meal lines and drew community attention. The formal contract expands that model to three full-time culinary shifts (elementary, middle and high school) plus a staff dietitian and job-embedded professional development for nutrition staff.

The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) approved the award but attached conditions. Petersburg’s procurement lead, Lori Newton, and Chief Operations staff explained those conditions to the board: the contractor may not provide free or no-cost incentives such as feeding sports teams or offering free snacks because VDOE views such services as potential gifts from a contractor. If Tahir provides such services, the company must invoice the district and those costs cannot be paid with school nutrition funds. VDOE also requires the district to submit monthly invoices and supporting documentation for review, and it directed the district to name an interim school nutrition director because of a current vacancy.

Brown said the contract requires a Petersburg City Public Schools employee to serve as the district manager (a VDOE requirement), and Tahir will assign a contractor-side manager to oversee day-to-day operations. Newton said the vendor will supply a remote staff dietitian dedicated to Petersburg to contain costs; Brown and board members clarified the dietitian will be assigned to Tahir’s office but dedicated to the district’s contract rather than being an in-building daily presence.

Board members raised questions about oversight and cost. Vice Chair Steven L. Pierce expressed initial hesitation about the $629,000 figure but supported the award after Brown outlined program elements and the VDOE conditions. The board approved the motion 7-0.

Brown said the district intends participation targets in the contract: a 10% increase in breakfast participation and a 5% increase in lunch participation. The superintendent emphasized the vendor will work hand-in-hand with existing nutrition staff and that current school nutrition employees will remain employed by the district.

The board and staff noted the procurement followed state procurement rules: the district used informal pilots under small-purchase thresholds and then issued a formal RFP once federal funds would be used. Newton said the procurement package and the VDOE review were part of that formal process.

Board Chair Kenneth L. Pritchett and others lauded the pilot’s visible results and the potential to make changes permanent, while acknowledging the extra documentation and oversight the VDOE will require.

The approved contract and VDOE conditions are now part of the district’s contract oversight schedule; Newton said the district will provide invoices and documentation to VDOE and continue implementing the job-embedded training model.

Ending: The district will begin the contract on July 1 and bring monthly invoices and implementation updates to the board; VDOE will monitor costs and compliance under the conditions it attached to the award.