Talbot County schools finalizing Aramark food-service contract; most Sodexo staff expected to transition

Miss Jones told the board the district is finalizing a contract with Aramark to provide food-service operations, pending Maryland State Department of Education approval. "We are in the process of finalizing our contract with, Aramark, our new food service company," she said, adding that the majority of current Sodexo staff had accepted positions with the new provider: "I believe we're we've signed 32 of 34 employees."

Jones described plans for summer meal service: Aramark will provide meals at two summer-school sites and will partner with local organizations (YMCA in Saint Michael's and Easton, BAM and neighborhood service centers) for weekly pickups. Sodexo will provide the first scheduled weekly pickup while Aramark assumes service for the following seven weeks, and Aramark has scheduled training days so staff can learn operating procedures. Jones emphasized the transition complexity: "It's a lot to get a new service company set up because they don't know anything about our schools. They don't know what time they can accept deliveries... it's a big learning curve."

On finances, Jones reminded the board the food-service fund must operate at a profit and said the Aramark model projects a $350,000 profit next year across the full fiscal year. Board members gave staff positive feedback about existing cafeteria teams while asking operational questions about summer programs, meal pricing and whether families are being charged appropriately; Jones said meal pricing has risen only 10 cents since 2019 and the federal reimbursement structure subsidizes paid meals.

The board had no formal vote on the contract at the work session; staff said MSDE approval is still required and summer operations will proceed under the transition plan.