The Bay District School Board first got a taste of the menu, and then a taste of how Chartwells School Dining would run food services.
"One thing that we can do is we can make a profit if we serve more meals," said a representative from Chartwells at a work shop meeting Tuesday night.
But food service employees responded saying, "we probably could have made a profit if we had been given more of an opportunity and instead of jumping to privatization."
It's been an ongoing controversial issue, the privatization of school services to make up for a budget shortfall. Tuesday night, Chartwells School Dining served up their proposal, promising to increase sales enough to guarantee the District a check of 750 thousand dollars a year.
"When I developed these menus, I took some of the students favorites paired, them with the appropriate side items and now there able to be served as a reimbursable meal," says Chartwells representatives.
Menus, sampled before the meeting, the company says will meet the new USDA guidelines while incorporating fresh, seasonal and local items. And while the menu seemed covered, board members wanted to make sure the current employees would be, too.
"Having their jobs is one thing, but having the same pay and same benefits... in your opinion how do they match up," asked School Board Member Steve Moss. "When we put them side by side, it was actually pretty interesting how similar," was Chartwells response.
The company says that all current food service employees will keep their jobs, same pay, and their benefits.
"We want you to know that you will have a job, and we want you to know that it's not going to look a whole to different that the job you have right now," says Eugenie Caroselli with Chartwells.
But even after the presentation, food service employees are still wary
"I didn't see anything positive besides a sales pitch," says Curtis Brown, a school service employee.
The School Board will meet next Tuesday to vote on the issue.
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