Concerns about the quality and caloric content of school lunches are causing Naperville School District 203 to study the possibility of getting out of the National School Lunch Program.
On Monday, the School Board selected a new food service provider for the district after the previous contractor, Sodexo, opted out of its contract because of the difficulties meeting the strict federal school lunch guidelines. The company had been the district's food service provider for more than five years.
District 203 was required to rebid the food service contract for the 2015-16 school year, and Aramark was selected as the lowest qualified bid at $3.57 million or $2.58 per meal for the 2015-16 school year.
Because Aramark's meal price bid is 25 cents more than what District 203 paid Sodexo in 2014-15, the board on Monday also raised the price of meals by 10 cents to cover the costs. Elementary would go from $2.40 to $2.50, junior high from $2.45 to $2.55 and high school from $2.50 to $2.60.
Superintendent Dan Bridges said the district might have to rebid the food service contract again in the spring should the board decide to forgo the strict federal standards and not participate in the NSLP. The program was established to provide federal money for low-income students so they can receive free or reduced-fee meals that are supposed to be nutritionally balanced.
Bridges said meetings between Sodexo and parents this past year showed the frustration both sides were experiencing toward the school lunches provided daily at school. He said parents with students in fifth grade through high school expressed concern the food lacked flavor and enough calories while Sodexo explained the challenges of the stringent requirements established by the U.S. Healthy Hunger-Free Kid Act for the NSLP.
The legislation aimed at reducing childhood obesity sets requirements on the amount of whole grain and protein meals should contain and mandated students take a half a cup of fruit or vegetable with every meal, whether students want it or not. At a board meeting in the spring, a Sodexo representative explained those standards coupled with smart snack rules on sodium and sugar intake that went to effect in July 2014 affect the flavor and meal selection. High school favorites like chicken fingers and fries had to be removed from the menu.
By leaving the program, schools would not be subject to the federal requirements.