North Little Rock approves renewal of Sysco food-service contract as director cites streamlined bid and rising breakfast participation

Robert Ginder, the district's child nutrition director, told the North Little Rock School Board on June 25 that staff had simplified the Sysco bid, removing what he described as redundant entries and identifying new products to expand menus.

"We were able to remove a lot of those duplicate items, and that's the 275 items that were removed," Ginder said, describing work that narrowed nearly 700 original bid items to a more focused list. He said the contracted prices came in about "a half a percentage point lower than with the prices that we were at last year," and that the changes should help the district manage food costs amid broader market inflation.

Ginder said the district identified 55 or 59 new items they want to try next year, carried forward about 414 existing items and will use a simplified shopping list to reduce ordering errors. He also described a shift to a "net off invoice" approach for USDA commodity products that lets the district buy value-added items, which he said will broaden menu choices including an expanding Asian line and cleaner-label, minimally processed options.

"As we open up an Asian line, we're gonna need some new sauces," Ginder said. "So really expanding choices, offerings."

Board members pressed Ginder on measurable results and vendor performance. He said breakfast participation rose across campuses this year, in some schools by 10 to 15 percent and others by 4 or 5 percent, and credited operational changes such as student ID badges and improved cashier procedures for producing more accurate counts.

"By putting the integrity and putting these thresholds in place, now we're getting credit for all the meals that we're serving," he said, adding that the program recorded "several tens of thousands of meals increased." Ginder also said the district tracked fill rate and that Sysco had provided reliable delivery across all campuses.

Ginder flagged staffing and service goals as ongoing needs: the department is entering the next school year with seven-to-eight vacancies plus several floating positions and wants additional hires to move from a self-service model toward more customer-service driven meal lines at the high school.

Board action and related votes

The board moved and seconded approval of the fiscal-year-2027 Sysco contract. The chair called for a voice vote and the motion passed on aye responses.

Votes at a glance (board voice votes recorded in open session): - Fiscal Year 2027 Sysco contract renewal: motion moved by a board member, seconded and approved (voice vote). - Approval of May 21, 2026 minutes: approved (voice vote). - Consent agenda (all items as presented): approved (voice vote). - Superintendent personnel recommendations (employment): approved following executive session (voice vote).

Why it matters

Food-service contracts shape what students are offered and how much the district spends on meals. The board's action keeps an existing vendor relationship in place while approving operational changes intended to contain costs and expand menu variety. Staffing shortfalls Ginder described could limit the district's ability to shift to a more service-oriented meal model, a point the director said he plans to address through summer hiring.

What's next

Ginder said the administration will present a separate consent-item purchase order tied to an FDA grant that covers minimally processed food items. He also said he would monitor participation data and vendor performance as the district implements the revised bid.