Board recommends Chartwells after food-service RFP; pricing and staffing discussed ahead of June 22 vote

The Wauwatosa School District board heard June 8 that Chartwells is the district’s recommended vendor to manage food service pending formal approval on June 22. District staff described a competitive RFP process — 20 vendors solicited, eight responses — and said they evaluated bids with a scoring matrix that placed the greatest weight on pricing and also considered staffing models, reporting transparency and menu offerings.

"Chartwells is the company that we are recommending," a district presenter said, adding Chartwells has already begun onboarding preparations so that, if approved June 22, the vendor can start July 1 and staff roughly 14 kitchens across the district. Staff noted Chartwells’ staffing model includes enough hours for about half the employees to qualify for health insurance, which the district viewed as a retention benefit.

Separately, staff reviewed recommended meal-price adjustments to cover higher labor, commodity and operational costs; federal rules fix free and reduced rates, so those amounts were not changing. The district will present the formal pricing motion at the June 22 meeting.

Board members asked about rubric weights, how vendor returns and guarantees were scored, and whether menu options included hot breakfast choices year-round. Staff confirmed hot breakfast items were included on proposed menus and said labs around food service would focus on student participation and improved meal variety.

The district invited the public to review the posted scoring matrix and bid materials and said contract terms and projected financial impacts will be available before the June 22 vote.