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Bolton district details early gains, lingering shortfall after switch to outside food-service manager
Summary
District food-service liaison Christine Wallace told the board that switching to a management company led to menu expansion and higher free-meal participation at the center school, but paid-meal participation remains a challenge and a small shortfall was reported; the district is tracking reimbursements and planning for potential budget effects.
Christine Wallace, the district’s food-service consultant and director, told the Bolton Board of Education that Bolton’s food program moved this year to a food-service management company (recorded as Witson/Winston’s in the meeting) and that the change has produced both operational savings and menu expansion.
"Witson's is keeping the operation going with slightly less staffing hours than were on the books for last year," Wallace said, adding that the company’s larger purchasing cooperative is lowering food costs and that the program now offers more daily choices, self-serve fruit and vegetable stations and themed chef days.
Wallace presented participation figures comparing October (before the manager) and March (after the manager had roughly two months of operation). At the district’s center school, free-meal participation increased from about 57 percent to roughly 67 percent; at the high school, she reported free-eligible participation moving from the high 40s to about 57 percent in the month shown. Wallace said paid-meal participation remains the program’s biggest challenge.
Superintendent Caruso told the board the district also recorded a budget saving tied to lower-than-projected interest rates: "There was a little bit of cost savings to the board of $54,767," which reduced the district’s original ask from 5.1 percent to about 4.84 percent, he said.
Wallace said the district is monitoring reimbursements, participation and point-of-sale data and that the food-service management company has implemented several interventions — hot sandwiches and kiosks at the center school, a hot-chocolate bar and ramen/chef special days at the high school, and an unlimited fruit-and-vegetable policy — intended to raise participation and reduce waste. She noted the district has not yet done formal plate-waste studies and recommended conducting one to measure impacts.
On funding, Wallace described two state-level opportunities: a Connecticut program that supports purchases of locally grown or processed items (the meeting transcript records an award amount unclearly; the exact grant amount was not specified in the meeting) and a governor’s budget proposal for universal breakfast that would reimburse districts at the free rate if enacted. Wallace urged public engagement with elected officials to support that proposal.
Board members asked about share tables and food safety; Wallace said share tables are being used (principally for unopened items such as milk or bagged fruit) and that offer-vs-serve rules and self-selection have helped reduce waste. She said the district is also able to repurpose cooked items when feasible.
No formal vote on food-service policy or contract changes was recorded at the meeting; the item was presented as an informational update and the board discussed next steps for monitoring participation and financial impacts.
Next steps: the district will continue tracking participation and reimbursement calculations and the finance committee will report back on how any shortfall could affect funds previously committed for town givebacks and other budget items.
