DALLAS TWP. — The Dallas School Board unanimously agreed Monday night to renew its food-service contract with Southwest Food Excellence LLC for Dec. 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018.
The district had earlier awarded the Arizona-based company a 90-day contract, from Sept. 6 to Nov. 30. SFE replaced Metz Culinary Management Inc. of Dallas.
The board re-advertised the request for bids this fall and received offers by Nutrition Inc., of Irwin, Metz Culinary Management and SFE, District Manager Grant Palfey said after Monday’s board meeting
“We did send out a request for bids looking for a more uniform bid,” board member Jeff Thomas said. “Southwest was once again the lowest bidder.”
Metz Culinary Management Inc. offered the district a contract costing $40,384, Palfey said. Nutrition Inc. proposed a $48,343 contract, he said.
Palfey said SFE was the only offer that contained a $44,454 rebate for the district awarded at the end of the school year.
The “return to the district” is based on an efficient service and increased student participation in the lunch program, Palfey said.
To date, the district paid SFE $14,501 in September and $27,610 in October for services rendered.
SFE is expected to roll out a new food-truck service for students starting in 2018, Palfey said. The innovative program will have designated days during which it will be parked at each of the district’s four buildings.
In other news…
• Dan Nestorick, the student information management systems administrator, and Dallas Elementary School Principal Thomas Traver announced that parents of elementary school students now will be able to register with the school’s online parent portal program to view their child’s report cards, class schedule and progress.
Parent Portal is used by parents of middle and high school students to access grades, schedules and to monitor their child’s academic progress, Traver said.
• The district’s partnership with Building Blocks Learning Center is developing to establish before and after child care for children from kindergarten through fifth-grade at both Dallas and Wycallis elementary schools.
Parents or caregivers who register for the program will be allowed to drop off their children at their school starting at 6:30 a.m. for morning programs, offered by certified Building Blocks teachers.
Students will be dismissed directly to their homerooms at the start of the school day.
If the beginning of school is delayed due to snow, the before-care program still will start at 6:30 a.m. The after-school program will run from school dismissal to 6 p.m. Child-care services will not be affected if the school closes early due to a snowstorm.
Holiday vacation or teachers’ strikes should not prevent child-care services from operating out of the schools.
“This will be viewed as an independent program,” Zubeen Saeed, president and CEO of Building Blocks Learning Center, said in an interview with the Dallas Post in late October. “We (Building Blocks) will handle everything from A to Z.”
The Dallas School Board will meet at 7 p.m. on Dec. 11 in the administration building.
