Santa Cruz Valley board approves food and facilities contracts, hires assistant principal and adopts budget revision

The Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District governing board voted Wednesday to award two districtwide vendor contracts, approve an assistant principal hire for Calabasas School and adopt a revision to the 2024–25 budget.

The actions followed staff presentations and committee review. The board voted to award a food-service management contract to Southwest Food Service (RFP 2601) and a custodial, grounds and facility management contract to SSC Services for Education (RFP 2602). The board also approved the certified administrator contract for Monica Delgado Cooper as Calabasas assistant principal for 2025–26 and authorized the district’s fiscal-year 2024–25 budget revisions.

Why this matters: the contracts move core operational services to external vendors and are structured so the food-service program is intended to be self-supporting through federal reimbursements. The budget revision reflects updated student counts and final grant allocations for the fiscal year and gives the administration limited flexibility to overspend single line items within the maintenance and operations section without exceeding total budgeted expenditures, as noted on the record.

Southwest Food Service and SSC Services for Education

District staff said the food-service procurement followed a committee review and Department of Education compliance checks. “The recommendation is to move forward with Southwest Food Service for food service management company for our district beginning July 1,” Ms. Brown said during the presentation. Staff told the board four proposals were received and the committee conducted presentations and evaluations.

Ms. Brown told the board the district’s goal is to make the food-service operation self-sufficient by using federal meal reimbursements to cover contract costs. She also said menu planning and nutrient limits are governed by federal regulations enforced through the Department of Education’s Health and Nutrition Division.

On facilities, staff described an expanded bid template that allowed the district to award by discipline or to a single vendor covering custodial, grounds and facilities. The committee recommended awarding all disciplines to SSC Services for Education; representatives of SSC were in the room to answer questions.

Hiring and budget revision

The board approved a certified administrator contract for Monica Delgado Cooper to serve as assistant principal at Calabasas School for the 2025–26 school year at a salary listed on the agenda of $68,477. The appointment was presented by district administrators and supported by the Calabasas principal, who described Cooper as a district-experienced candidate recommended for the role.

In the budget revision presentation, the district’s finance staff explained year-end and hundredth-day adjustments. The superintendent and business staff said average daily membership (ADM) projections were revised upward by about 60 students from the estimate used in the original budget, and the district’s group B weight count rose by about 50. The budget revision documents also reflect changes tied to the expiration of federal ESSER COVID-era funding and finalized grant allocations. The district reported the maintenance-and-operations fund increased about 2.9% and the capital fund about 4% from the budget approved in July; federal program funding decreased as ESSER allocations wind down.

Board votes

- RFP 2601 — Food service management contract to Southwest Food Service: motion carried (vote recorded on the minutes as “ayes have it; motion carries”). The transcript shows no roll-call tally or named mover/second. Staff noted contract renewals may be exercised for up to five years and annual guarantees and per-meal prices will be presented in yearly contract amendments.

- RFP 2602 — Facilities, custodial and grounds contract to SSC Services for Education: motion carried; the minutes record one board member abstained (“I will abstain because I was on the committee”), but do not name that member. The motion carried.

- Approval of certified administrator contract for Monica Delgado Cooper, Calabasas assistant principal (2025–26) at $68,477: motion carried.

- Fiscal year 2024–25 budget revision and related authorization consistent with ARS 15-905 (allowing the administration to overspend a single functional line item within maintenance and operations without exceeding total budgeted expenditures): motion carried.

What the record shows and what it does not

The transcript records the motions, staff presentations and roll-call-style “ayes/nays” for each item, but it does not include full roll-call vote tallies for the contract awards. One abstention is recorded during the facilities vote but the speaker is not unambiguously identified in the minutes. Staff provided numeric clarifications during the budget presentation (ADM and group-B weight counts, dollar figures remaining in expiring ESSER grants and amounts captured from the School Facilities Board) and said the $631,000 figure referenced in the food-service memo must be reinvested in the food-service program.

The board also approved the consent agenda and closed the meeting after the listed items were handled.

Ending: District staff said transition meetings will be held with incumbent employees as the new vendors assume services; employees may choose whether to transfer to the new employer during that period.