Democrats blast cafeteria privatization moves

BRISTOL, Conn. — The renewed bid by the Republican-controlled Board of Education to privatize school cafeterias is likely to become a hot political issue this year.

The three Democrats on the City Council have already staked out positions firmly opposed to the move while none of the GOP incumbents or candidates taken a stand on the actions of their brethren on the school board.

With elections coming up this fall for the nine-member school board as well as municipal offices, the division is one of the few where party line distinctions have been clearly drawn.

Calling on school leaders to “do the right thing and stop pursuing privatization at once,” Democratic city Councilor Calvin Brown said the Republicans “have already wasted hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on this worthless, petty political battle.”

The school board last week sought a new round of proposals for a food service management contract that would ax more than 50 part-time unionized cafeteria workers. The privatization proposals are due by June 11.

Board officials said the cafeterias lose more than $250,000 annually and they have to do something to stop the bleeding, which amounts to much less than 1 percent of the annual education budget. They have so far spent at least $143,000 in legal fees pushing for the proposed change approved a year ago on a party line vote.

The two Republican newcomers seeking a council seat this year – Jodi Zils Gagne and Anthony D’Amato – declined to take a stand. They each said they need more information.

None of the GOP incumbents at City Hall opted to comment, but Mayor Ken Cockayne and city Councilors Eric Carlson and Rich Miecznikowsi have said they wish the school board would move forward with a new contract for the workers  instead of continuing to press for privatization.

“The majority of the cafeteria moms are Bristol residents who take care of our children. To out-source this to a large out-of-town company is not supporting Bristol jobs or its residents,” Democratic city Councilor Ellen Zoppo-Sassu said Monday.

She said for the board’s Republican leadership to go “down this road again is a complete and total distraction from what they are supposed to be doing to promote student achievement and preparing students for college or careers.”

City Councilor Mary Fortier, another Democrat, said, “No financial problem is solved by taking money and benefits from workers in our community and transferring that money to a corporation.”