Continues With Modular Classrooms—

School Board Approves Chartwells’ Contract

By Eliza Hallabeck

The food service company Chartwells will continue to serve Newtown students, after favorable action on its contract by the Board of Education Tuesday, December 17.

Other topics at the board’s meeting included modular classrooms for the high school, the strategic school profiles for the 2007-2008 school year and the school district’s Capital Improvement Plan.

Board member David Nannavaty said Chartwells is willing to continue to support the Newtown school system’s food service program by maintaining the position of its regional dietician, Jill Patterson. Also, Chartwells is guaranteeing a profit, and is willing to move the school system in the direction of being green if the school is willing to do so with the assumption of certain costs.

Board member Anna Wiedemann said school lunch costs will stay the same.

“The prices that you see requested are the prices that are currently being paid,” said Ms Wiedemann. “So the prices are not going up.”

Ms Wiedemann said that Chartwells added a premium lunch at the middle school and the high school level.

“They are trying to address a number of needs,” said Ms Wiedemann. “A number of different culinary advantages. Maybe some kids may want soy milk, different types of foods that may cost a little bit more. If [families or students] are willing to pay for it, (Chartwells) is willing to provide it.”

“They are still willing to propose an investment in our schools,” said Mr Nannavaty.

School board Chair Elaine McClure asked the two representatives of Chartwells present to explain how they plan to make a profit from the schools in Newtown, because in the last year Chartwells had a loss.

Tom O’Donell, regional sales representative for Chartwells, said there was a small loss in the past year and Chartwells absorbed it.

“We’ve always absorbed the loss, and we will continue to do so,” said Mr O’Donnell. “There is no risk to the district at all.”

After Chartwells was discussed, Schools Superintendent Janet Robinson presented the board the Strategic School Profiles as produced by the Connecticut State Department of Education for the 2007-2008 school year.

“In terms of knowing about the district and seeing how we compare with other districts in the DRG is very interesting,” said Dr Robinson.

“We generally do very well in comparison with the state in terms of our test scores,” said Dr Robinson, but when it comes to expenditures, she said it is apparent the district is frugal in comparison.

Ms McClure said one thing that stuck out when she was looking at the Strategic School Profile was the transportation section, “We’re paying $768 per student. We have close to 6,000 students, and no one in the state is close to us.”

One reason for that could be the size of Newtown, geographically the third largest town in the state, compared to the other towns, board member Kathy Fetchick said.

The board also approved the procurement and the request for a special appropriation for installation of the modular classrooms at NHS during its meeting. The eight classrooms are planned to be installed connected to the existing modular classroom units in place.

Ms Fetchick and Dr Robinson also explained during the meeting examples of the school board’s Capital Improvement Plan as prepared by the Board of Finance. One version the finance board created assumed a delay in the high school expansion and one assumed the process for the project would continue as planned.

“They left our Hawley HVAC right where it was in 2011-2012, but in taking $1 million out of each year so they could keep things under the ten percent cap and also consider a drop in revenues, they felt they would be able to move the middle school roof up,” Dr Robinson said.

Dr Robinson added, “They took out a number of town projects.”

Board member David Nanavaty said he recognized what the Board of Finance was doing from a fiscal point of view, and that the school board does not necessarily need to worry about it this year.

“I’m concerned with what this is saying,” said Mr Nanavaty. “What this is telling us.”

Ms Wiedemann said she believes the finance board was trying to help them with projects that have been looked over in the past.

“I really do believe that they are trying to work with us as a board to move our projects forward,” said Ms Wiedemann.