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Board approves emergency Chartwells contract to run school meal service for 2025–26
Summary
The Oshkosh Area School District Board of Education voted unanimously Sept. 10 to approve an emergency food service contract with Chartwells to operate school meals for the 2025–26 school year after the district’s food service director resigned days before school started.
The Oshkosh Area School District Board of Education voted unanimously Sept. 10 to approve an emergency food service contract with Chartwells to run the district’s meal program for the 2025–26 school year.
The item was placed on the agenda after the district’s food service director resigned a week before classes began, leaving the assistant director position vacant. District staff said the contract is an emergency measure under Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) requirements and that there was not time to run a normal competitive RFP process before the school year started.
District staff explained the contract is a fixed‑cost arrangement as allowed by DPI emergency procurement guidance. Under that model Chartwells will provide food, supplies and some personnel; the district will retain its current food‑service employees as district staff for the year. The administration said the Chartwells proposal shows an overall surplus compared with the company’s cost and revenue assumptions but that the district’s total expenses will include payroll amounts that are not part of the Chartwells fixed‑cost figures.
Board members and administrators described the arrangement as a short‑term, operationally necessary step. The administration said a formal RFP process will be run next spring per DPI rules and the board will consider long‑term contracting or returning to an in‑house model then.
Board members asked for clarity about menus, student input, dietary accommodations and how quickly menu changes might appear. The district said September menus had already been set and that Chartwells would begin ordering and adjusting menus in October; more substantial menu and service changes (including made‑from‑scratch items and student tasting/input stations) were expected, the administration said, closer to the second semester. The administration also invited student representatives to participate in future taste‑test and menu‑feedback panels during the RFP process.
The board called the question and approved the emergency contract. The superintendent and administration will present competitive bids to the board next spring and return with recommendations on a longer‑term approach.
Votes at a glance
- Emergency food service contract with Chartwells — Approved (unanimous roll‑call vote).
