Gulf County School District solicits bids for school food service; three firms responded to pre-bid meeting

District staff told the Gulf County School Board on March 24, 2025, that the school food service contract is out for bid and that three companies attended a pre-bid meeting to inspect facilities and ask questions.

Evan, a district staff member handling procurement, said Sodexo and Chartwells attended along with a company identified as Southern Food of Excellence. "We did a pre bid meeting. We discussed some questions that they had. We took them to both of these 2 schools, just for them to kinda get a feel of... what our equipment looks like," Evan said.

Staff said bids are due on Monday at 2:00 p.m.; Evan said he, Angie, Josh and Tammy will open the bids immediately after they are due and will tally scoring that includes a price formula and points for cost of food. He said the district expects to present a recommendation at the April board meeting.

Why it matters: the food service contract affects daily meal service to students and can have fiscal implications for the district. Staff described a scoring approach that awards the lowest price the maximum points (25) and assigns points to other bidders by formula.

Details from the meeting: the district conducted facility walkthroughs for bidders. Evan said staff will tally cost sheets and score proposals according to the district'''s procurement process; he characterized the review as fiscally prudent. No contract award was made at the March meeting.

The board did not take formal action on the contract at this meeting; staff will bring a recommendation after bids are opened and evaluated.