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School board approves emergency Chartwells contract to run meal service for 2025–26
Summary
The Oshkosh Area School District board approved an emergency, fixed-cost contract with Chartwells to operate school meal service for the current year after the district lost its food service director. The contract is temporary; the district will run an RFP in spring 2026.
The Oshkosh Area School District Board of Education voted to approve an emergency, fixed-cost contract with Chartwells to provide school meal services for the 2025–26 school year.
District staff told the board the district lost its food service director a week before school started and had no time to run a competitive procurement under Department of Public Instruction (DPI) rules. “Because it’s an emergency contract, there is no RFP bidding process. We just don’t have time for that,” said Mister Neehan, a district staff member presenting the contract to the board.
The contract is a fixed-cost arrangement mandated by DPI’s emergency procurement process, the district said; that format does not provide the line-item transparency the district normally expects. “By contract on how DPI does this, that that’s not included, which is why we didn’t get a breakdown in your materials,” Mister Neehan told the board. He said Chartwells’ proposal shows a projected surplus based on participation and vendor pricing, but added district payroll and currently employed food-service staff remain district employees and must be counted separately.
Board members asked about menu quality, student input and continuity of school-run programs. Mister Neehan said Chartwells will staff several positions to get the district through the year and plans to solicit student feedback and introduce more from-scratch offerings in the second half of the year. “As we get closer to Christmas time ... they will more than likely at that point ... start looking at chef stations, different opportunities to do samplers,” he said. The district plans an RFP process in March 2026 to select a vendor or decide to run food services in-house after this school year.
Board members and student representatives expressed guarded optimism. One board member said they were “significantly excited” about the potential of a larger vendor to expand menu options and maintain special-education training programs that currently operate as school-run enterprises. A student board representative asked whether changes would be visible during the school year; the district said new menu items could begin appearing in October, with larger shifts planned for January.
The board called for student input during the forthcoming RFP process and confirmed halal and kosher options were on the board’s radar.
The motion to approve the Chartwells emergency contract passed on a recorded voice vote with the board voting Aye; the district will present a public RFP and selection recommendation in spring 2026.
Ending: The Chartwells contract is a stopgap measure intended to maintain meal service while the district completes a competitive procurement in the spring. District staff said they will report back on food costs and service performance and will share student feedback gathered during the year.
