Meal Services Contracts
A food service management company (FSMC) contract is one
in which the contractor manages some aspect of the school
food service program. Generally, the FSMC prepares and serves
the meals and/or manages the school meal program(s).
In a vended meals contract, the contractor provides the
meals only (prepackaged, pre-plated) and does not manage
any aspect of the school food service. However, if the contractor’s
employees are responsible for the final preparation and/or
serving of the prepackaged, pre-plated school meals, the
contract becomes a FSMC contract and is no longer considered
a vended meals contract.
If you are not sure which type of contract you have or you
are considering contracting for the first time, please contact
our office for further information and clarification (800-545-7892).
To obtain the prototype contract forms and documents, please
click on the appropriate link below.
 Third
Party Contracting—Public Act 095–0241
Public Act 095–0241, signed by Governor Blagojevich
on August 17, 2007, and effective immediately, outlines additional
requirements for school districts that choose to contract
with a third party for non-instructional services. Regarding
school meal services, the legislation impacts school districts
with employees who perform services for the school meal program
and are considering contracting with a third party to perform
those school meal program services. For example, if the school
district employs staff to perform various meal service-related
tasks, the school district is required to implement new procedures
as part of the contract solicitation and award process. Links
to the Public Act and the summary of the requirements are
provided below.
State
Agency Responsibilities
When a school food authority
(SFA) contracts with a food service management company (FSMC),
the state agency is required to annually review each contract
to ensure the contract meets all regulatory requirements. Each state is required
to conduct an on-site review of each SFA contracting with a FSMC to determine
the SFA’s compliance with all provisions and standards set forth in regulations.
The state agency's on-site review of the SFA-FSMC operation must be conducted
once every five years and be sufficient in scope to ensure compliance.
School
Food Authority Responsibilities
The National School Lunch Program regulation
210.16 permits a school food authority to contract with a food service
management company to manage its
school food
service operations; the regulations prohibit delegation of certain duties.
It is the SFA’s responsibility to ensure its food service operation
is in conformance with the SFA’s agreement under the program.
The
SFA is responsible for:
- Observing the limits on the use of nonprofit
food service revenues including the use of nonprofit food
service account funds to pay only allowable costs
regardless of the costs billed by the FSMC;
- Determining and verifying the eligibility of children
for free and reduced-price meals;
- Ensuring only reimbursable
meals are included on the claim for reimbursement
regardless of the number of meals billed by the FSMC; and
- Not
permitting the accrual of all income and expenses to
the FSMC.
A
school food authority is required to have specific procedures in place to determine
the validity of meals claimed for reimbursement. To ensure
the validity
of meal counting and claiming systems at the schools under its jurisdiction,
the SFA must conduct an on-site review of each school prior to
February 1 of each school year. If the review identifies problems
with a school's meal counting
or claiming procedures, the SFA shall ensure the school implements
corrective action and, within 45 days of the review, the SFA must conduct
a follow-up,
on-site review to determine if the corrective action resolved the
problems. Whether a SFA self-operates its food services or
uses a food service
management
company, the SFA must conduct the on-site review and remains responsible
for ensuring deficiencies are identified and effective actions are
taken to correct
any deficiencies found.
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