HALIFAX, Va. — The deadline for the Halifax County Public School Board to submit a renewal of their contract with Sodexo, a food service management company, to the Virginia Department of Education is March 31, and with that may be an amendment that would transfer cafeteria workers to become Sodexo employees.
The current contract is a one-year contract ending June 30.
This was part of a discussion between board members, food service liaison Lori Hale and Sodexo District Manager George Higley at their work session Tuesday evening.
Chairman Kim Farson pointed out Sodexo could provide benefits to cafeteria workers the school system can’t provide due to budgetary restraints.
Higley outlined Sodexo employee benefits including the following:
- Cafeteria workers’ hourly rates would stay the same.
- Employees would be paid every two weeks, while now they are paid once a month.
- Unemployment would be available for scheduled school time off.
- Typically employees receive annual evaluation for merit pay increase.
- A total of 10 to 15 “all purpose days” are offered.
- Sodexo offers a variety of insurance plans for all staff members who work at least 30 hours. Hale said most of the staff currently works 30 hours.
- Sodexo offers a 401k with the Virginia Retirement System.
- Sodexo offers tuition reimbursement.
The district manager said if they wanted to switch all cafeteria employees to Sodexo, “January is the month to get moving on it.”
It’s not a done deal, but Wednesday ED-7 Trustee R. K. “Dick” Stoneman said board members need to look into the possibility of transferring employees to Sodexo’s payroll and take a look at the figures to see what’s best for the cafeteria workers and the school system.
Also during Tuesday evening’s work session, Farson said the lunch program has shown “great improvement from where we were” this school year.
“It’s about us being able to have more resources to bring more things in,” she added.
Higley said the proof is in the numbers as he shared average daily participation percentages for breakfast and lunch, and according to Higley, Halifax County Middle School has the highest participation in the mid-Atlantic.
The district manager said most school districts show an increase in participation of only 2 to 3 percent, while some Halifax County public schools have increased as much as 17 percent from last year.
“A lot of kids are getting fed, a lot of good work by the ladies,” said Higley.
He also explained to board members a dietitian creates the menu using a five-week cycle that offers foods meeting the USDA requirements while also offering foods the students want to eat.