Antonio D. French is a writer, political consultant, and an elected Democratic Committeeman proudly living on the north side of St. Louis City. He is currently a candidate for Alderman of the 21st Ward.
Thanks Flyover….PubDef is actually worth my monthly contribution and if we all continue to contribute; maybe Antionio can once again cover SAB and Elected School Board Meetings.
There are a lot of things happening that needs to be publically highlighted-Even when most parents choose not to attend Board Meetings (generally with a few exceptions)Thanks Again Flyover……………
I don’t know what happens after the democratic primary—when a journalist like Antonio becomes a campaign consultant—there can be a loss of credibility, because of conflicts of interests (education reporting?), but there can be enhancements to it—because they are closer to the actual sources of power and decisions, and might have better access to relevant information.
I think political consultants who later become journalists are somewhat suspicious (Dick Morris?) because you have to wonder why they are no longer wanted as consultants.
I wonder who makes the most money—consultants, journalists, or politicians. I guess it depends upon how they go about their businesses.
oops—Tip of the iceberg, Bill. I assume you receive the slps schoolnewsletter, but, in case you don’t—-this was in it today, by Susan Turk from the school watch:
SLPS Defaults on Loan Repayment
by Susan Turk
St. Louis–July 7, 2008–Weren’t you dismayed to read the article in the Post-Dispatch about the SLPS defaulting on its desegregation loan repayment? You’re excused if you missed it because no such article appeared. That the Post declined to cover the story is not surprising given their tendency to give the SAB a free pass on anything remotely evident of irresponsible management. But had the elected Board of Education defaulted on a financial commitment, you can bet the story would have made page one.
The story the Post failed to cover is the $7 million repayment of desegregation capital improvement funds which was due June 30. The loan is the legacy of the 2003 Roberti administration and the Slay dominated school board. They borrowed, without asking, $36 million from funds set aside to build new schools for students returning to the SLPS if or when the voluntary transfer program closes down. But with enrollment dropping rather than rising that money was just sitting in the bank, accruing interest which the SLPS can use for general operating expenses.
The SLPS negotiated with the parties to the 1999 settlement of the desegregation case to use $10 million of the borrowed funds to purchase new text books leaving $26 million to be repaid. Under the careful management of CFO Enos Moss and Superintendent Bourisaw, the SLPS repaid $13 million 2 years ago, 2 years early. But a $7 million payment was due by June 30. It has not been paid.
Only $3.5 million, half of what was due, was budgeted to be repaid in the 2007-08 fiscal year budget. The Board of Education approved the budget knowing that only half the repayment was budgeted before being removed from power in June 2007. The SAB approved the budget themselves after assuming power last year. Had they not been removed from power, Board President Peter Downs said they would have begun negotiations with the parties to the settlement agreement immediately to achieve flexibility in the repayment schedule and possibly forgiveness of the loan repayment altogether if possible. If they had not come to an agreement with the parties, the elected board would have known early enough in the fiscal year to make subsequent adjustments to the budget to be able to make the repayment.
But SAB CEO Rick Sullivan did not contact the parties to begin negotiations until the last quarter of the fiscal year. By that time, budget creep had erased even the $3.5 million which had been set aside on paper for repayment. Sullivan, perhaps a little too idealistically, hoped to have the entire repayment forgiven and to be given flexibility on the use of the remaining million in the capital fund. Negotiations were not settled by June 30. They are continuing.
In the meantime, the SLPS is in default and subsequently the 2007-08 budget was not balanced as required by statute. Having already taken away accreditation, there isn’t much more the State can do to punish the SLPS for this, but can you imagine this not being publicized if this had happened while the elected board was in power? There is an apparent double standard on the part of DESE and our local media. Had this happened while the elected board was in control, there would have been a blistering attack in the media and calls for state intervention. But the state interveners are in control so what is there to complain about?
also, Education Coalition Asks Jay Nixon to Dismantle SAB, Dr. Bourisaw To Be Honored By Board of Education, More to Watch Out For, a letter from Peter Downs, and finally, a post from the always well-informed and earnestly constructive board member katie Wessling. Maybe she would make a good mayor if she could find a good consultant to map out a campaign.
You forgot to mention Georgre Stephanapolous, Tim Russert and Karl Rove.
I kind of stumbled onto this site looking for the Beacon. Somehow the link brought me here. I like this better. I would be willing to support a site that focused on local issues, however I would not be willing to support one with an agenda other than the truth (which is not synomonous with the Democrat Party). It would be a fine line to take dough from candidates and be considered objective.
As to who makes the most? Politicians have the potential to steal the most. Journalists, unless they anchor the local news or work at the network level don’t make much. I don’t know about consultants, but I’d bet if you divided the money by the hours it takes, it would be close to minimum wage, unless you have major league campaigns.
In st. louis, everybody, even the mayor, claims to be a democrat. Some are more “bipartisan” than others—which is a nice thing—if you are a republican.
Mariano Favazza’s son is running for State Rep in 65 against Kratky, and his literature announces his proud support for taking tax dollars to use as vouchers for private schools. A huge contigent of Slay’s opponents are no way going to vote for a Favazza after that.
Just another question that I’m currently confused about. Say a person is a candidate for State Rep or Senate (August 2008), and gets elected. Can that person run for Mayor (2009)? Thanks…
I don’t think there is any prohibition against holding an office and running for another. You would have to resign one if you won the other. We’ve got two US Senators who aren’t paying much attention to the Senate while they run for President.
I have no idea whether this is better or worse than aramark. I thought doing the work in house looked like it had a better history. I would like to know whether the elected board and dr. Bourisaw were headed this diriection, or whether it is all from Sullivan.
I get a different vibe from wikipedia than from Giegerich.
City schools switch food service vendor
By Steve Giegerich
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
07/11/2008
St. Louis — The Aramark Corp.’s controversial reign as the food service provider for the St. Louis Public Schools ground to a halt Thursday night with a surprise decision to turn the district’s cafeterias over to the company that feeds the 400,000-plus students in the Chicago city schools.
Chartwells Division and Thompson Hospitality, a subsidiary of the Charlotte-based Compass Group, received a one-year open contract from the Special Administrative Board.
The cost is contingent on overall student enrollment and the number of district students served by the Federal Free and Reduced Meals program.
District Chief Executive Officer Rick Sullivan said the switch to Chartwells does not signal any intent to move the food service program back to district operation.
The board is studying the possibility of returning cafeteria services to the district, which managed the program until it was outsourced to Aramark in 2004.
“It is unrelated to our ongoing plan to find the best way to provide food service to the students in the St. Louis Public Schools,” said Sullivan. “At this point, we’re still going to look at all the options available to us.”
Anticipating the end of Aramark’s agreement with the district on June 30, the board put the food contract out for bid earlier this year.
Dennis Brockman — the executive director for Aramark’s St. Louis schools operations — said he didn’t learn of the switch to Chartwells until 2 p.m. Thursday.
Disappointed and “deeply troubled,” Brockman pledged to ensure a smooth transition to Chartwells in time for the first day of classes, Aug. 18.
Several Aramark cafeteria workers, though, departed Thursday’s board meeting in tears.
Some were openly doubtful of the district’s promise that Chartwells will retain the “vast majority” of Aramark employees.
“Even if they do hire us, they’ll probably cut our wages or something,” said Aramark worker Margaret Pruitt.
In remarks to the board, two Aramark employees acknowledged the company had a rocky start after taking over the district’s operations four-and-a-half years ago.
During its tenure, Aramark has endured criticism from the elected School Board, parents and a national nutritional organization about the quality of the food served the 28,000 students in the St. Louis schools.
“Things were kind of rough at first, but we sorted it out, we ironed it out,” said cafeteria worker Donna Lofton.
In the end, however, a committee made up of administrators, a nutritionist and others determined that Chartwells could best meet the nutritional needs of the district’s students within the cost constraints imposed by the budget crunch.
Providing an early boost to Chartwells on the nutrition front, the board later adopted a “Health and Wellness Policy” aimed at improving student eating habits.
Corporate Governance Problems
Sir Francis Mackay Compass’s Chairman also chairs the Nomination Committee.
A Code of Ethics (or Ethical code) has been published by Compass only in August 2006.
Compass has no Environment Management System.
Compass published no guidelines for stock ownership by the CEO, Senior Management and non Executive Directors.
Compass facilities are not known to be certified by internationally known standards. Some of its larger sites have achieved ISO 14001 accreditation, but the level of certification across the Group is not disclosed.
Directly involved in a 2005/2006 scandal for corrupting United Nations officials for winning contracts.
Adopted hardball labour tactics, in 2006 canceling a service contract at an Ottawa, Ontario, Canada nursing home rather than pay employees the arbitrator-awarded wage after a three year dispute.
The Americas Division is headquartered in Charlotte, NC and the company employs about 3000 people in the Charlotte metro region. This division includes all of North and South America
[edit] The United Nations Corruption Scandal + Iraq overcharging scandal
The Compass Group is involved in a corruption scandal with its subsidiary Eurest Support Services winning contracts to provide food to United Nations peacekeepers in Liberia. The value of Compass’s food contracts with the United Nations is valued at $237 million, with renewals and add-ons that could reach $351 million.
Alexander Yakovlev (UN procurement) the UN Procurement Officer and Vladimir Kuznetsov Head of the UN Committee for Administrative and Budgetary Issues were arrested and indicted after taking nearly $1 million in bribes from Compass.
Competitors Es-Ko and Supreme Foodservice AG have initiated lawsuits claiming violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, the Sherman Antitrust Act and New York State’s Donnelly Act regulating free trade. Federal investigations are underway and the case has been referred to the Serious Fraud Office (UK).
After its own three-month internal investigation, Compass declared it had discovered “serious irregularities” in its UN business, but that these were limited to “only a few individuals” who were dismissed: Peter R. Harris, Andy Seiwert and Doug Kerr. Compass refused to make public its investigation and did not name any other individuals involved beyond those already fired, so the true level of corruption within Compass is unclear. However, Compass’s CEO Michael Bailey has stepped down in June 2006 and has been replaced by an outsider to the catering industry, Richard Cousins.
Furthermore, Compass through its subsidiary Eurest Support Services is involved in the scandal of overcharging its services to the US Government in Iraq as are many other government contractors, including Compass’ competitor, France-based Sodexho[1].
In April 07 the Elected Board (after the elections when the Slay people were gone) directed Dr. B and the administration to begin exploring options on how to bring food service inhouse again. When the SAB came in June they kept Aramark instead and gave them more money not to quit.
Whatever Chartwells serves cannot possibly be worse than what Aramark did. My kids didn’t like the food even when it was something they would normally love to eat (such as hamburger and fries) and I sent their lunches. When they told me they had friends begging for food from them because those kids were on the free lunch program and had no option but what Aramark served, I began sending extra food for them to share. I’m probably not the only parent who did that.
The goal should be to get inhouse kitchens and serve our students well cooked, well planned, non-prepackaged meals, but until we get there, I am glad to see that Aramark is gone.
I would guess this is from Bill Purdy—I simply e-mailed a question to the slps newsletter:
The elected board had nothing to do with the decision made last night by the SAB. We were not involved in anyway with the process or the ultimate selection of the new vender. However, elected board members have long championed in-house food service and expressed long-term criticism of the Aramark program based entirely on feed back from many parents and students. We recall incidents of food poisoning and tainted food and numerous complaints regarding both quality and quantity of student lunches. I am confident that the elected board would have considered other options than Aramark. The information posted is new to me as I have never heard that before. The information is interesting however and worthy of further investigation and confirmation. Hope that is helpful.
well—I found this from last November—
City Schools to Examine Bringing Food Services Back In-House
Posted on 16 November 2007 by Antonio D. French
At its regular meeting last night, the Special Administrative Board of St. Louis Public Schools voted to contract with the Council of Great City Schools to determine the exact cost of bring the district’s food services back in-house.
Board member Richard Gaines, who has long questioned the wisdom of the 2003-2004 school board and former superintendent Bill Roberti’s decision to outsource food services, said that traditionally food service has always been a source of profit for the district. The other, more important issue, he said, is nutrition.
“The other issue for us must always be nutrition,” said Gaines.
Click To Play
A study released in August by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine said St. Louis Public Schools’ lunches have the worst nutritional value out of America’s 22 largest school districts.
District CEO Rick Sullivan said SLPS is now working with nutritionists at BJC Hospital to better the district’s food offerings
Not to infer anything specifically to the SLPS but…
I heard a bit on KWMU about a school in France (public, I think) that had hired their own master chef (he took a pay cut). He went out every morning and bought fresh ingredients, etc. Didn’t waste anything. Very healthy. Etc. I don’t remember the details but if I remember correctly it was comparable in price and the students raved about the quality. I would bet learning improved as well.
there is a difference between letting a business person like roberti or sullivan decide what are frills—–and letting people who are trained in education like purdy, or people who have children like wessling or an experienced superintendent like bourisaw decide these things.
Business people often have no concept of the cause and effect of deciding something is a frill. Maybe the food quality will be better—I would be surprised if it comes from spending more money. Apparently, aramark was pretty bad. It is possible the new people are a wiser way to spend the money if things must be out-sourced. Remains to be seen.
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24 Comments
flyover
Wednesday, 2nd July 2008 at 7:03 pm
Excellent. Now take the next step and ban nepotism and political royalty. I can’t believe he isn’t the candidate for Governor.
Bill Monroe
Wednesday, 2nd July 2008 at 7:09 pm
Now can someone in the know tell us who the intended target(s) are ??
flyover
Wednesday, 2nd July 2008 at 8:14 pm
This was in the paper the other day
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/politics/story/0AE4683BD218ECC086257475001C16FB?OpenDocument
This is a great step in eliminating “professional politicians”. After serving, they should return to their plow.
Douglas Duckworth
Wednesday, 2nd July 2008 at 8:21 pm
Kinder is a hypocrite. Why doesn’t he ban McKee’s blockbusting. Wait, the feds got that covered back in 1968. Missouri, the state of morons.
Bill Monroe
Wednesday, 2nd July 2008 at 8:49 pm
Thanks Flyover….PubDef is actually worth my monthly contribution and if we all continue to contribute; maybe Antionio can once again cover SAB and Elected School Board Meetings.
There are a lot of things happening that needs to be publically highlighted-Even when most parents choose not to attend Board Meetings (generally with a few exceptions)Thanks Again Flyover……………
flyover
Wednesday, 2nd July 2008 at 10:36 pm
tell me about this contributing business. I don’t know about that….
kjoe
Monday, 7th July 2008 at 3:21 pm
I don’t know what happens after the democratic primary—when a journalist like Antonio becomes a campaign consultant—there can be a loss of credibility, because of conflicts of interests (education reporting?), but there can be enhancements to it—because they are closer to the actual sources of power and decisions, and might have better access to relevant information.
I think political consultants who later become journalists are somewhat suspicious (Dick Morris?) because you have to wonder why they are no longer wanted as consultants.
I wonder who makes the most money—consultants, journalists, or politicians. I guess it depends upon how they go about their businesses.
kjoe
Tuesday, 8th July 2008 at 11:18 am
Tip of the iceberg Bill—I assume you get the
kjoe
Tuesday, 8th July 2008 at 11:27 am
oops—Tip of the iceberg, Bill. I assume you receive the slps schoolnewsletter, but, in case you don’t—-this was in it today, by Susan Turk from the school watch:
SLPS Defaults on Loan Repayment
by Susan Turk
St. Louis–July 7, 2008–Weren’t you dismayed to read the article in the Post-Dispatch about the SLPS defaulting on its desegregation loan repayment? You’re excused if you missed it because no such article appeared. That the Post declined to cover the story is not surprising given their tendency to give the SAB a free pass on anything remotely evident of irresponsible management. But had the elected Board of Education defaulted on a financial commitment, you can bet the story would have made page one.
The story the Post failed to cover is the $7 million repayment of desegregation capital improvement funds which was due June 30. The loan is the legacy of the 2003 Roberti administration and the Slay dominated school board. They borrowed, without asking, $36 million from funds set aside to build new schools for students returning to the SLPS if or when the voluntary transfer program closes down. But with enrollment dropping rather than rising that money was just sitting in the bank, accruing interest which the SLPS can use for general operating expenses.
The SLPS negotiated with the parties to the 1999 settlement of the desegregation case to use $10 million of the borrowed funds to purchase new text books leaving $26 million to be repaid. Under the careful management of CFO Enos Moss and Superintendent Bourisaw, the SLPS repaid $13 million 2 years ago, 2 years early. But a $7 million payment was due by June 30. It has not been paid.
Only $3.5 million, half of what was due, was budgeted to be repaid in the 2007-08 fiscal year budget. The Board of Education approved the budget knowing that only half the repayment was budgeted before being removed from power in June 2007. The SAB approved the budget themselves after assuming power last year. Had they not been removed from power, Board President Peter Downs said they would have begun negotiations with the parties to the settlement agreement immediately to achieve flexibility in the repayment schedule and possibly forgiveness of the loan repayment altogether if possible. If they had not come to an agreement with the parties, the elected board would have known early enough in the fiscal year to make subsequent adjustments to the budget to be able to make the repayment.
But SAB CEO Rick Sullivan did not contact the parties to begin negotiations until the last quarter of the fiscal year. By that time, budget creep had erased even the $3.5 million which had been set aside on paper for repayment. Sullivan, perhaps a little too idealistically, hoped to have the entire repayment forgiven and to be given flexibility on the use of the remaining million in the capital fund. Negotiations were not settled by June 30. They are continuing.
In the meantime, the SLPS is in default and subsequently the 2007-08 budget was not balanced as required by statute. Having already taken away accreditation, there isn’t much more the State can do to punish the SLPS for this, but can you imagine this not being publicized if this had happened while the elected board was in power? There is an apparent double standard on the part of DESE and our local media. Had this happened while the elected board was in control, there would have been a blistering attack in the media and calls for state intervention. But the state interveners are in control so what is there to complain about?
also, Education Coalition Asks Jay Nixon to Dismantle SAB, Dr. Bourisaw To Be Honored By Board of Education, More to Watch Out For, a letter from Peter Downs, and finally, a post from the always well-informed and earnestly constructive board member katie Wessling. Maybe she would make a good mayor if she could find a good consultant to map out a campaign.
flyover
Tuesday, 8th July 2008 at 1:14 pm
You forgot to mention Georgre Stephanapolous, Tim Russert and Karl Rove.
I kind of stumbled onto this site looking for the Beacon. Somehow the link brought me here. I like this better. I would be willing to support a site that focused on local issues, however I would not be willing to support one with an agenda other than the truth (which is not synomonous with the Democrat Party). It would be a fine line to take dough from candidates and be considered objective.
As to who makes the most? Politicians have the potential to steal the most. Journalists, unless they anchor the local news or work at the network level don’t make much. I don’t know about consultants, but I’d bet if you divided the money by the hours it takes, it would be close to minimum wage, unless you have major league campaigns.
kjoe
Tuesday, 8th July 2008 at 3:51 pm
In st. louis, everybody, even the mayor, claims to be a democrat. Some are more “bipartisan” than others—which is a nice thing—if you are a republican.
Turd Ferguson
Tuesday, 8th July 2008 at 7:17 pm
“the mayor, claims to be a democrat”
FFFFFFAAAAAVVVVAAAAAAZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAA 09! OW!
anon
Tuesday, 8th July 2008 at 10:12 pm
Mariano Favazza’s son is running for State Rep in 65 against Kratky, and his literature announces his proud support for taking tax dollars to use as vouchers for private schools. A huge contigent of Slay’s opponents are no way going to vote for a Favazza after that.
Turd Ferguson
Wednesday, 9th July 2008 at 10:54 am
Really? Ouch.
Is there a link anywhere? Info?
Turd Ferguson
Wednesday, 9th July 2008 at 12:55 pm
Just another question that I’m currently confused about. Say a person is a candidate for State Rep or Senate (August 2008), and gets elected. Can that person run for Mayor (2009)? Thanks…
flyover
Wednesday, 9th July 2008 at 4:26 pm
I don’t think there is any prohibition against holding an office and running for another. You would have to resign one if you won the other. We’ve got two US Senators who aren’t paying much attention to the Senate while they run for President.
kjoe
Friday, 11th July 2008 at 11:34 am
I have no idea whether this is better or worse than aramark. I thought doing the work in house looked like it had a better history. I would like to know whether the elected board and dr. Bourisaw were headed this diriection, or whether it is all from Sullivan.
I get a different vibe from wikipedia than from Giegerich.
City schools switch food service vendor
By Steve Giegerich
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
07/11/2008
St. Louis — The Aramark Corp.’s controversial reign as the food service provider for the St. Louis Public Schools ground to a halt Thursday night with a surprise decision to turn the district’s cafeterias over to the company that feeds the 400,000-plus students in the Chicago city schools.
Chartwells Division and Thompson Hospitality, a subsidiary of the Charlotte-based Compass Group, received a one-year open contract from the Special Administrative Board.
The cost is contingent on overall student enrollment and the number of district students served by the Federal Free and Reduced Meals program.
District Chief Executive Officer Rick Sullivan said the switch to Chartwells does not signal any intent to move the food service program back to district operation.
The board is studying the possibility of returning cafeteria services to the district, which managed the program until it was outsourced to Aramark in 2004.
“It is unrelated to our ongoing plan to find the best way to provide food service to the students in the St. Louis Public Schools,” said Sullivan. “At this point, we’re still going to look at all the options available to us.”
Anticipating the end of Aramark’s agreement with the district on June 30, the board put the food contract out for bid earlier this year.
Dennis Brockman — the executive director for Aramark’s St. Louis schools operations — said he didn’t learn of the switch to Chartwells until 2 p.m. Thursday.
Disappointed and “deeply troubled,” Brockman pledged to ensure a smooth transition to Chartwells in time for the first day of classes, Aug. 18.
Several Aramark cafeteria workers, though, departed Thursday’s board meeting in tears.
Some were openly doubtful of the district’s promise that Chartwells will retain the “vast majority” of Aramark employees.
“Even if they do hire us, they’ll probably cut our wages or something,” said Aramark worker Margaret Pruitt.
In remarks to the board, two Aramark employees acknowledged the company had a rocky start after taking over the district’s operations four-and-a-half years ago.
During its tenure, Aramark has endured criticism from the elected School Board, parents and a national nutritional organization about the quality of the food served the 28,000 students in the St. Louis schools.
“Things were kind of rough at first, but we sorted it out, we ironed it out,” said cafeteria worker Donna Lofton.
In the end, however, a committee made up of administrators, a nutritionist and others determined that Chartwells could best meet the nutritional needs of the district’s students within the cost constraints imposed by the budget crunch.
Providing an early boost to Chartwells on the nutrition front, the board later adopted a “Health and Wellness Policy” aimed at improving student eating habits.
kjoe
Friday, 11th July 2008 at 11:40 am
and now—for a viewpoint slightly different:
Corporate Governance Problems
Sir Francis Mackay Compass’s Chairman also chairs the Nomination Committee.
A Code of Ethics (or Ethical code) has been published by Compass only in August 2006.
Compass has no Environment Management System.
Compass published no guidelines for stock ownership by the CEO, Senior Management and non Executive Directors.
Compass facilities are not known to be certified by internationally known standards. Some of its larger sites have achieved ISO 14001 accreditation, but the level of certification across the Group is not disclosed.
Directly involved in a 2005/2006 scandal for corrupting United Nations officials for winning contracts.
Adopted hardball labour tactics, in 2006 canceling a service contract at an Ottawa, Ontario, Canada nursing home rather than pay employees the arbitrator-awarded wage after a three year dispute.
The Americas Division is headquartered in Charlotte, NC and the company employs about 3000 people in the Charlotte metro region. This division includes all of North and South America
[edit] The United Nations Corruption Scandal + Iraq overcharging scandal
The Compass Group is involved in a corruption scandal with its subsidiary Eurest Support Services winning contracts to provide food to United Nations peacekeepers in Liberia. The value of Compass’s food contracts with the United Nations is valued at $237 million, with renewals and add-ons that could reach $351 million.
Alexander Yakovlev (UN procurement) the UN Procurement Officer and Vladimir Kuznetsov Head of the UN Committee for Administrative and Budgetary Issues were arrested and indicted after taking nearly $1 million in bribes from Compass.
Competitors Es-Ko and Supreme Foodservice AG have initiated lawsuits claiming violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, the Sherman Antitrust Act and New York State’s Donnelly Act regulating free trade. Federal investigations are underway and the case has been referred to the Serious Fraud Office (UK).
After its own three-month internal investigation, Compass declared it had discovered “serious irregularities” in its UN business, but that these were limited to “only a few individuals” who were dismissed: Peter R. Harris, Andy Seiwert and Doug Kerr. Compass refused to make public its investigation and did not name any other individuals involved beyond those already fired, so the true level of corruption within Compass is unclear. However, Compass’s CEO Michael Bailey has stepped down in June 2006 and has been replaced by an outsider to the catering industry, Richard Cousins.
Furthermore, Compass through its subsidiary Eurest Support Services is involved in the scandal of overcharging its services to the US Government in Iraq as are many other government contractors, including Compass’ competitor, France-based Sodexho[1].
Katherine Wessling
Friday, 11th July 2008 at 12:10 pm
Kjoe,
In April 07 the Elected Board (after the elections when the Slay people were gone) directed Dr. B and the administration to begin exploring options on how to bring food service inhouse again. When the SAB came in June they kept Aramark instead and gave them more money not to quit.
Whatever Chartwells serves cannot possibly be worse than what Aramark did. My kids didn’t like the food even when it was something they would normally love to eat (such as hamburger and fries) and I sent their lunches. When they told me they had friends begging for food from them because those kids were on the free lunch program and had no option but what Aramark served, I began sending extra food for them to share. I’m probably not the only parent who did that.
The goal should be to get inhouse kitchens and serve our students well cooked, well planned, non-prepackaged meals, but until we get there, I am glad to see that Aramark is gone.
kjoe
Friday, 11th July 2008 at 1:21 pm
I would guess this is from Bill Purdy—I simply e-mailed a question to the slps newsletter:
The elected board had nothing to do with the decision made last night by the SAB. We were not involved in anyway with the process or the ultimate selection of the new vender. However, elected board members have long championed in-house food service and expressed long-term criticism of the Aramark program based entirely on feed back from many parents and students. We recall incidents of food poisoning and tainted food and numerous complaints regarding both quality and quantity of student lunches. I am confident that the elected board would have considered other options than Aramark. The information posted is new to me as I have never heard that before. The information is interesting however and worthy of further investigation and confirmation. Hope that is helpful.
kjoe
Friday, 11th July 2008 at 5:08 pm
Somewhere in the archives, there is a wonderful post from a former food service worker in the days when slps had the lunch program in house.
If anyone remembers it, or could find it for me, I would appreciate it.
kjoe
Friday, 11th July 2008 at 7:46 pm
well—I found this from last November—
City Schools to Examine Bringing Food Services Back In-House
Posted on 16 November 2007 by Antonio D. French
At its regular meeting last night, the Special Administrative Board of St. Louis Public Schools voted to contract with the Council of Great City Schools to determine the exact cost of bring the district’s food services back in-house.
Board member Richard Gaines, who has long questioned the wisdom of the 2003-2004 school board and former superintendent Bill Roberti’s decision to outsource food services, said that traditionally food service has always been a source of profit for the district. The other, more important issue, he said, is nutrition.
“The other issue for us must always be nutrition,” said Gaines.
Click To Play
A study released in August by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine said St. Louis Public Schools’ lunches have the worst nutritional value out of America’s 22 largest school districts.
District CEO Rick Sullivan said SLPS is now working with nutritionists at BJC Hospital to better the district’s food offerings
jim heger
Saturday, 12th July 2008 at 5:47 pm
Not to infer anything specifically to the SLPS but…
I heard a bit on KWMU about a school in France (public, I think) that had hired their own master chef (he took a pay cut). He went out every morning and bought fresh ingredients, etc. Didn’t waste anything. Very healthy. Etc. I don’t remember the details but if I remember correctly it was comparable in price and the students raved about the quality. I would bet learning improved as well.
kjoe
Sunday, 13th July 2008 at 1:25 am
there is a difference between letting a business person like roberti or sullivan decide what are frills—–and letting people who are trained in education like purdy, or people who have children like wessling or an experienced superintendent like bourisaw decide these things.
Business people often have no concept of the cause and effect of deciding something is a frill. Maybe the food quality will be better—I would be surprised if it comes from spending more money. Apparently, aramark was pretty bad. It is possible the new people are a wiser way to spend the money if things must be out-sourced. Remains to be seen.
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