Carson City schools project $350,000 nutrition services shortfall; officials outline pricing, donations and CEP risks

Carson City — The Carson City School District’s nutrition services fund is projected to run about $350,000 short for the coming year, district staff told the board during a workshop and later an informational update.

Spencer, a district staff member who presented budget figures, and Elizabeth Martinez, Director of Nutrition Services, told trustees the fund shows roughly $4.6 million in planned expenditures and about $4.2 million in projected revenues. Martinez said the fund has a positive reserve that will cover the projected shortfall and that no general-fund transfer is expected.

The projected deficit matters because the nutrition fund is federally restricted: “We don’t share money with anybody,” Martinez said, explaining that federal reimbursements must remain in the nutrition fund and be spent only on eligible food-service costs.

District finances and what they pay Chartwells Spencer told the board the largest cost in the fund is personnel — about $2.1 million to $2.2 million budgeted for roughly 44 positions — plus a contract payment to Chartwells that totals about $1.9 million. That Chartwells amount includes a management fee (covering two Chartwells employees dedicated to Carson City) and per-meal charges plus food and consumables.

Spencer: “All of that rolls into that $1,900,000 — food costs and, like, paper products, those types of things.” Martinez added that Chartwells’ regional purchasing power and rebate agreements typically return a few hundred thousand dollars per year in…