DPI administrative review finds procedural and recordkeeping deficiencies in district food service; vendor Chartwells and district outline corrective actions

Superintendent Michael (Doctor) Garrison and Chartwells staff reported results of a Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction administrative review of the district’s food service program, identifying multiple findings and a list of corrective actions the district and vendor will complete.

Sarah Warren, director for Chartwells, praised Holly Goodwin of Chartwells for managing the review process and said DPI singled out Gaston Elementary as an “amazing program” while identifying procedural or recordkeeping findings at Gaston, Merrill and Beloit Memorial High School.

Chartwells and district staff described the principal findings: expenses not allocated correctly by program (including purchases coded inconsistently between the food service account and other funds), vending‑machine proceeds and credit‑card costs that must be reconciled to Fund 50, incomplete production records (including bulk ingredient quantities required by DPI), missing or incomplete site‑specific food safety standard operating procedures, missing civil‑rights nondiscrimination statements in some policies and handbooks, and Smart Snacks fundraisers that weren’t logged as exempt.

Warren said Chartwells and district staff have taken several corrective steps: deactivating a high‑school vending machine, retraining staff on “offer versus serve” (a federal/state school‑meal standard), redoing required civil‑rights training and statements, submitting a triannual assessment to DPI, and updating production records for the week of Feb. 24–28 for DPI review. She said Chartwells would supply a condensed, site‑specific food‑safety binder for each facility so satellite kitchens have only the procedures they need.

At Beloit Memorial High School, Chartwells reported two observed non‑reimbursable meals during lunch service at the deli line; the vendor did not claim or charge those meals but will submit a corrective action statement and training log to DPI. Warren said deli staff had been retrained on portion sizes, recipes and production‑record use, and that Chartwells conducted an offer‑versus‑serve training for high school staff just before the meeting.

Superintendent Garrison and committee members discussed oversight: district staff conduct internal audits twice a year, and Chartwells teams said they perform spot checks on portion sizes and production records. The Business Operations and Finance Committee asked administration to bring the DPI report and corrective‑action progress to the full board for wider review; committee members also asked for 30‑day corrective‑action status updates for specific findings.

Public and board comments at the meeting included frustration from a longtime food‑service industry member who said contractors should proactively maintain regulatory compliance. The committee agreed to move the food‑service administrative‑review discussion to the full board for further review.