The Sedalia school District 200 board of education agreed Monday night that taking matters back into “their own hands” may be the best solution as they voted to return the food service program to one that is self-operated by the district.
This will mark the first time in five years that the district will not employ Opaa! as the provider for breakfast and lunch for the district.
The decision was based on a number of factors according to Superintendent of Sedalia 200 Schools, Brad Pollitt.
“We feel we can provide meals to our students at the same or perhaps a lower cost than what a food service program such as Opaa! can provide,” Pollitt explained. “Another factor in our decision is that Rowena (Nickell) and our cook’s know what the kids like and want to eat.
“Instead of having so many food options we may reduce those options to two or three per meal because it seems the students only choose from a couple of items, especially at breakfast where all they really like and want to eat is cereal,” Pollitt added. “Knowing what our students want should help eliminate some of the waste seen in the program.”
Both Pollitt and Steve Triplett, assistant superintendent for building and grounds and support services, commented that the decision was a financial one and the district left Opaa! on good terms.
“Rowena and the staff know the kids and they have a personal touch with them,” Triplett said during the discussion. “They are tuned in to what the kids want and need.”
Pollitt stressed that the meals will still continue to meet all nutritional guidelines and the students will have choices regarding their meals.
The board did not set meal prices for the upcoming year, nor did they decide on the CEP Program at Monday night’s meeting. A decision on those matters will be made during an upcoming board meeting.
CEP is a federally funded program from the Department of Agriculture that provides breakfasts and lunches at no cost to all elementary students.
“We have been very careful and slow whenever we make a decision to raise meal prices,” Pollitt said. “A food service program is not designed to make money, but we also need to limit the loss that we see in the program.”
To help in the factor the district approved a federally mandated policy that sets a limit on the amount of money that can be charged by a student for their meals at $50.
The purpose of the policy, according to information provided by Missouri Consultants for Education LLC in the board packet is to “comply with new Department of Agriculture regulations concerning collection of overdue meal payments.”
As part of the policy meals that can be charged will include only the menu items of the reimbursable meal.
After the balance exceeds $50 the student may be given a designated menu alternate.
No charges will be allowed for a la carte foods and beverages.
Parents/guardians of students with a $5 or more negative balance will be contacted electronically, by correspondence, by phone call by the districts accounting office or by the food service department.
Parents and guardians will be sent a written request for payment in full. Any charges not paid before the end of the school year will be carried forward to the next school year.
Graduating seniors must pay all charges in full. Failure to do so may result in the student being denied participation in graduation ceremonies.
“We encourage all of our parents to take the time to fill out the free and reduced meal forms,” Pollitt said. “We send those out at the beginning of year school year but parents may apply at any time throughout the school year.
The board also approved mandated policy, No. 1210, which expands the calendar options available to school districts from two to three.
The board entered into a memorandum of understanding between Burrell Behavioral Health and the district to increase access to mental health and behavioral interventions for students and families in the Sedalia 200 School District.
“Burrell is a state approved, private, not-for-profit mental health service that we have worked with in recent years,”Pollitt said. “We wanted to have this memorandum of understanding in place to provide more opportunities between to work with student in our district.
Burrell has agreed to provide mental health screenings, assessments, treatment planning, outpatient individual or family therapy, psychiatric consultations, medication management, case management and crisis services to the district in an expanded capacity.
The program will start at the beginning of the 2017-18 school year.
In other actions the board:
• Accepted a bid from Midwest Supply Inc., from Belton with the low bid of $12,928.32 for filters.
• Accepted the low bid of $6,632.40 from Crescent Electrical Supply Co. from Marshall for the district’s light bulb bid.
• Accepted the low bid from Premier Paper and Packaging of Columbia for $68,800 for a total of 3,200 cases of copy paper at $21.50 per case.
This includes orders for Smithton, La Monte, Otterville and Stover. By combining orders with these schools the district’s cost is reduced.
• Accepted bids from 10 different bidders for custodial supplies. The bids were accepted on the basis of low, local and alternate (custodial recommendations.) The bids totaled $108, 279.20.
• Accepted the sole bid from Higgins Asphalt Paving Co. of Tipton for $85,480.50. This is from asphalt repair work on the playground at Heber Hunt.
• Accepted the sole bid from Higgins Asphalt Paving Co. of Tipton for $65,057.98 for repair work on the south parking lot at Smith-Cotton Junior High.
• Accepted the sole bid of $37,975.23 also from Higgins Asphalt Paving Co. for repairs to the parking lot at Smith-Cotton High School.
• Accepted the low bid of $261,100 from Watkins Roofing of Columbia. The bid is for a 10,000 sq. ft. roof repair project located above the library at Smith-Cotton Junior High. The bid included the removal of the old greenhouse from the roof.
• Accepted the sole bid from Preferred Construction of Smithton for $55, 456 for concrete sidewalks at the entrance and bus entrance at Heber Hunt.
• Accepted the low bid of $28,900 from Tech Electronics of Columbia for a Valcom Intercom System at Washington Elementary.
• Recognized a donation from the Marshall Family and McDonald’s for recognition of the Sedalia School District 200 faculty and staff during Teacher Appreciation Week.
• Recognized a donation from Mr. and Mrs. Larry Stevenson for funding for a private bus to transport Whittier students to a Kansas City Royals Baseball game.
• Recognized a donation from the West Central Independent Living Solutions and their Youth Transition Coordinator Kyra Kendrick, for a collection of books dedicated to disability awareness for each school’s media center.
• Recognized an award to Horace Mann Elementary of an award from the Missouri Arts Council for $2,000.
District attendance as of April 10th was 89.99 percent.
