By ZEINAB NAJM
Times-Herald Newspapers
HEIGHTS — Dearborn Heights District No. 7 unanimously approved ChartWells as its food service provider at a Sept. 5 special meeting. Trustee Vickie Bracken was absent.
The contract will be the standard Michigan contract for one year with one four-year renewals. After a special board meeting on Aug. 29, the Michigan Department of Education contacted Board Attorney Jeremy Chisholm and Supt. Jennifer Mast to let them know there would be four items needed if the district decided to move forward with ChartWells.
Those items were, a letter indicating the board selected ChartWells; an independent price determination signed by the district and ChartWells; final version of the addendum; and signed letter by an authorized representative of the district stating that it has read and understands the proposed revisions in the addendum.
Earlier in the day on Sept. 5, ChartWells provided Chisholm and Mast with an updated addendum which was updated in a way Chisholm suggested. He said the modifications that ChartWells is proposing to the draft language is a normal part of the process.
“The first point that I had addressed to the board was that the addendum would need to be updated to match the numbers that were provided in the revised bid sheet, earlier in the day it was provided and the numbers do match what was in the revised bid sheet and it looks like it is correct from my read,” Chisholm said.
A second item regarding information technology system as new language in the original and revised addendum also was brought to the board’s attention.
“The proposed language would require the district to cooperate with the management company to make sure your technology interfaces properly with theirs for credit and debit card readers,” Chisholm said. “If it didn’t, ChartWells would notify you and you would have the option to either update your system so it worked or if you choose not to update it ChartWells would have the option under the contract to not utilize those electronic payment forms.”
Also during the meeting, the board approved to supersede its Aug. 21 resolution to award the bid to Southwest Foodservice Excellence. That move came after a June 12 resolution where incumbent Sodexo was voted in favor of, but was denied by MDE.
Mast recommended SFE, but when the board rejected it and decided on incumbent Sodexo, MDE representatives asked the board write a letter explaining its reasoning. The letter was necessary because the board did not select the highest scorer, which was ChartWells.
On Aug. 29 Mast explained why she recommended SFE instead of ChartWells.
“This is a business decision for me,” she said Aug. 29. “I am responsible for making business decisions for the district. They’re not always easy and they’re not always what I would want to do. I make them because they’re in the best interest of the district.
“So, was finance a big piece of that decision for me? Absolutely it was. This district has been in a pay freeze for 12 years. I would’ve never considered making a recommendation to the board that would’ve given the least return to the district because it just wouldn’t be in my thought process.
“When I made my recommendation I didn’t see faces. I didn’t think of all the employees I worked with for 22 years and breaking their hearts, I wasn’t thinking about who I liked and didn’t like — that doesn’t come into play in this job, if it did, all the decisions would be different all the time but I’m not in that role. So, I made the decision that I thought was best for the district.”
For the long term, the board unanimously voted to direct Mast to submit ChartWells — a food service company which submitted a bid in April — entire proposal and contract to Chisholm for review during the Aug. 29 meeting.
During that same meeting, the board agreed to self-operate its food service on half days Sept. 3 and 4 while it continued the selection process.
(Zeinab Najm can be reached at [email protected])