Nashoba administrators to issue RFPs to study outsourcing food service and extended‑day programs; union and parents urge against it

Superintendent Kirk Downing told the Nashoba Regional School Committee on Nov. 5 that the district will issue Requests for Proposals to study whether to contract out the district’s food service and before‑and‑after‑school (extended‑day) programs. Downing said the RFPs are an exploratory, fact‑finding step and that administration has not recommended outsourcing.

The matter drew public comment. Kevin Keaveny, identified at the meeting as president of the Nashoba Regional Education Association, asked the committee to “question the motives of this effort” and warned that exploring outsourcing could “end a negotiated collective bargaining agreement” and threaten employees who have worked in the programs for years. Russ Williston, a parent, said outsourcing “might look like a cost savings on paper, but the real cost is in what we lose,” and urged the committee to keep the programs in‑house to preserve relationships and continuity of care.

Downing told the committee issuing an RFP is how the district will develop a comparison analysis. “We don’t have a recommendation. We don’t have, any, move to to outsource programs. We have to do this study,” he said, adding the RFP process will allow the administration to gather both financial and qualitative information to tell a fuller story about program costs, student experience and impacts to current staff.

A district administrator, who explained the procurement process, said the food‑service procurement is prescriptive: an RFP for food services will require review and approval by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Office of Food and Nutrition at specified steps. The administrator said the extended‑learning procurement will follow general public‑procurement law but likewise will use an RFP so the district can evaluate qualitative proposals as well as price.

Committee members asked whether the RFPs are only due diligence and whether the school committee would retain final authority. Administration said the RFPs are a due‑diligence exercise and that any policy decision to outsource would be made by the school committee, not by administrators. Administration also said it will work with legal counsel and update potentially affected employees and families as the procurement proceeds.

Committee members pressed about timing and budget implications. Administration said it aims to have information earlier than April — the date cited for required DESE steps — but cautioned that the timeline depends on market responses and the time needed to draft an RFP. Administration said the RFP can include qualitative criteria, including provisions that a potential vendor retain existing staff or assume salary structures, and that hybrid or phased options could be studied as part of the procurement.

No motion or vote on contracting was taken at the meeting. Administration said it will return to the committee with updates and information from the RFP process and from revolving‑fund reviews that inform how extended‑learning revenues currently offset other budget lines.

Ending: Administration reiterated that the RFPs are intended to produce information the committee can use to evaluate options and make a policy decision, and that no recommendation to outsource has been made.