False Promises: Food Service Contractors Don't Save Pennsylvania School Districts Money

Keystone Research Center. 412 North Third Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101. Tel: 717-255-7181; Web site: http://keystoneresearch.org

N

25

Food; Nutrition; Public Schools; School Districts; Food Service; Contracts; Educational Finance; Elementary Secondary Education; Outsourcing

Meeting students' basic food and nutrition requirements is an essential role of public schools and critical to student learning. Yet as with other support services in schools -- such as transportation and janitorial services -- school boards or school administrators who are worried about the bottom line may turn to outside companies to manage or replace in-house district school food programs. In 2004, about 70% of Pennsylvania school districts self-operated their food service programs. But by 2019, that number dropped to 47%, as more districts chose management companies to run their school food programs. This report relies on a mix of rigorous statistical analysis and interview-based qualitative research and finds that contracting out food services -- their management or the entire operation -- does not yield the financial benefits school districts are promised by contractors.

ERIC

2023

ED631330