USDA audit prompts rebidding of Conn. school-foodservice programs

Nearly 50 Connecticut school districts will have to rebid their lunch programs after a federal audit found issues with two areas in the contracts.

Easton, Redding and Region 9, which share one food account and are jointly known as ER9, will join 48 other school districts in the state in rebidding their programs. Brookfield and Ridgefield will also rebid.

The audit by the U.S. Department of Agriculture cited two problems with the contracts: That they didn’t cite low price as the main reason for selecting a program and the contracts included extras that the federal government considers “unallowable.”

“Just about everyone who went out to bid at the same time as us, now have to rebid,” said Laura Ponzio, the business manager for ER9.

Many of the schools affected awarded contracts in March 2014, nearly all using state-designed templates for the requests for proposals.

“The districts were not at fault,” said Paul Henderickson, business manager for Ridgefield schools.

Ponzio said the rebidding process will cost the schools time and money because lawyers have to review the contracts again.

“It’s very frustrating, because we followed a document that was given to us and now we have to go back,” she said.

The state is working with the schools, companies and the USDA to resolve the issue, said Kelly Donnelly, communications director for the state Department of Education.

The business managers from the rebidding districts plan to meet with the state and USDA Thursday morning to discuss it.

“The imposition this has created for our districts is regrettable, and we are working with our federal counterparts to minimize the impact on districts,” Donnelly said. “This includes working with them on a process that would allow them to work with current providers until the end of the school year.”

Originally, the schools were required to rebid for the current school year.

“It would be a lot of upheaval if everyone had to replace a contractor in the middle of the school year,” said Al Cameron, director of business and operations at Brookfield schools.

He said it takes about six months to select a contractor.

“The rebidding process is a lot of work and takes a lot of time,” Cameron said, adding he was not told why Brookfield had to rebid.

Ridgefield and ER9 were notified by the state in January they weren’t in compliance for both areas. Each has contracts with Chartwells division of Compass Group, a food company based in North Carolina the districts have worked with for several years.