If anyone thinks that the issues with the food being served to Richmond Public School (RPS) students are solely about the appearance and taste of the food, please take the time to read the letter posted below. And should anyone believe that the kids are simply going to throw whatever food they are served in the trash -- regardless of quality or nutritional value -- I invite you to rethink your analysis.
We live in a city in which at least one out of four children live at or below the poverty line. A Northside elementary school principal once explained some facts of life to me about feeding children. Monday through Wednesday, NO food goes into the trash cans. The kids have had so little healthy food to eat over the weekend that they literally eat everything put on their plates. By Wednesday lunch their little bellies are starting to get full and you see some milk cartons getting tossed as well as overcooked green beans and the like. Come Thursday, the kids are back to “normal” and they start tossing food and milk containers out. On Fridays, you have kids trying to sneak food out of the cafeteria to take home for the long, hungry, junky food weekend ahead.
Please note that I have reached out to the author of the letter sent by VDOE to Supt. Kamras in order to clarify who is on the hook for paying for this food -- $12.9 million. I will update you as I learn more.
Editor’s Note: RPS Supt. Kamras and staff knew BEFORE school started that there were significant problems with the food service contract. Rather than inform ALL members of the School Board that the Virginia Department of Education had procurement ($12.9 million), nutritional and compliance with federal USDA regulations concerns with this contract. The following is a letter sent to Kamras on Sept. 28, 2021. Stay tuned. ~ C.A.O. Wolf
Richmond City Public Schools
301 North 9th Street, Floor 17
Richmond, Virginia 23219-1927
Dear Mr. Kamras:
This letter is to update you on the status of Richmond Public Schools’ (RPS') compliance with requirements to have approved applications in place for various federal child nutrition programs in which it participates.
RPS does not have an approved application to operate the federal child nutrition programs for the Seamless Summer Option (SSO) of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), nor the At-Risk Portion of the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). This is due to RPS' failure to submit a complete package and failure to do so in accordance with the federal child nutrition program guidelines.
The Virginia Department of Education, Office of School Nutrition Programs (VDOE-SNP) provided extensive outreach and technical assistance to RPS. Despite assurance from a number of RPS staff, the VDOE-SNP continues to await a response from RPS. Please be advised a failure to remedy this situation could result in withholding of claims for reimbursement of federal funds and future ineligibility to participate in these vital school meal programs.
Please find in this letter a detailed description of the communications, requests, technical assistance provided, and consequences presented to RPS regarding requirement for participation in the federal child nutrition programs.
The VDOE-SNP is required to review all vended meal contracts to ensure compliance with federal procurement regulations and guidelines. The VDOE-SNP received RPS' vended meals agreement and Request for Proposals (RFP) on August 30 and September 1, 2021, respectively, as part of the school year (SY) 2021–2022 NSLP application packet. RPS was notified on
Mr. Jason Kamras
September 28, 2021
Page TwoSeptember 7, 2021, that the vended meals contract and RFP did not meet procurement guidelines. The vended meal contract and RFP should have accompanied the application for participation and the application is required to be submitted prior to operating the federal child nutrition programs. Neither of these requirements were met. The application packets were available beginning May 31, 2021, with a due date of July 16, 2021.
RPS was provided leniency to operate the school and child nutrition programs using a vended meals contract that did not meet procurement guidelines contingent upon complying with the corrective action plan that included a timeline of September 2020.
The VDOE-SNP has worked with RPS since August 25, 2019, when the office first learned RPS was using a vended meals contract for all of their school and child nutrition programs (IFB #18-6841-3 issued April 18, 2018). The original vended meals contract with Preferred Meals, awarded on June 12, 2018, did not comply with procurement regulations. Furthermore, the same contract was renewed effective June 13, 2019–June 12, 2020.
To ensure the vended meals contract was in alignment with procurement guidelines, RPS was required to complete a new vended meals bid and award for SY 2020–2021. Additionally, the VDOE-SNP required RPS to submit a corrective plan to include a timeline for the new bid to be published and awarded. The approval of the SY 2020–2021 SNP and CACFP application packets were contingent on the approval of the corrective action plan. The VDOE-SNP approved RPS’ corrective action plan, which was submitted to the office on September 10, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and various nationwide waivers issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), RPS operated the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) in place of the NSLP in SY 2020–2021. The VDOE-SNP staff and procurement specialist worked closely with RPS throughout SY 2020–2021 to provide technical assistance and templates to assist in development of the new RFP and bid. RPS released the new RFP with a start date of February 1, 2021. Due to the mid-year contract, RPS renewed the contract to June 30, 2021.
Pursuant to federal regulations, the vended meals agreement and contract was reviewed again as part of the SY 2021–2022 NSLP application packet. The new RFP (#21-6985-04) was issued on April 15, 2021, and awarded for one year. Contract #6985 indicates the contract actually started July 6, 2021, and was awarded through July 5, 2022. Preferred Meals representatives signed the contract on August 18, 2021. During this time, RPS underwent a procurement review conducted by CN Resource, a contracting agency of the VDOE-SNP. The procurement review identified that the vended meals contract was not properly procured as cost was not the primary awarding factor.
Mr. Jason Kamras
September 28, 2021
Page Three
Mr. Jason KamrasJoy Washington, the VDOE-SNP Procurement and Contracts Specialist, worked jointly with CN Resource to ensure RPS received support and technical assistance in developing a corrective action plan to resolve the finding. RPS received and agreed to use a vended meals
template on June 2, 2021. RPS failed to use the template provided to ensure compliance and the RFP utilized failed to include many federal requirements.
The current vended meals contract (contract # 6985) does not contain the correct sodium content as required in NSLP and the School Breakfast Program (SBP) regulations and, further, is being used for all school and child nutrition programs. The contract does not include the SSO, which RPS is currently operating in place of the NSLP and SBP due to various USDA nationwide waivers currently in effect. Additionally, numerous clauses are missing and price was not used as the primary factor when awarding the bid. The VDOE-SNP provided Susan Roberson, RPS' Director of School Nutrition Services, the missing verbiage and templates on September 7, 2021.
The VDOE-SNP met with Ms. Caryl Johnson, City of Richmond representing attorney, on September 14, 2021, to discuss why the RFP and contract were noncompliant with procurement guidelines. The VDOE-SNP informed Ms. Johnson that any exceptions to continuing under the contract would have to be granted by the USDA, as the VDOE-SNP does not have the authority to do so. During this meeting, the VDOE-SNP requested that RPS draft a letter requesting an exception to the federal requirements. The VDOE-SNP outlined details to be included in the letter and several options for remedying the situation. The VDOE-SNP conveyed that the letter to the USDA should include a request to allow operations to continue until a vended meals contract could come into compliance. On September 15, 2021, Joy Washington provided Ms. Johnson all of the corrective action letters, summaries of technical assistance, and procurement review documentation and findings.
Ms. Johnson reached out to me on September 16, 2021, at 8:00 p.m. to schedule a meeting on Friday, September 17, 2021, to review the status of this issue with the RPS staff. That call occurred at 9:00 a.m. with Caryl Johnson, City of Richmond; Alana Gonzalez, RPS Chief Operating Officer; Damon Richardson, Interim Director of Procurement; Susan Roberson, RPS SNP Administrator; and VDOE-SNP staff. During that call, the situation was reiterated and Ms. Gonzalez indicated that she would be in contact with the division superintendent's office for follow-up. Another week has gone by without any communication from RPS regarding this serious situation.
In addition, the VDOE-SNP received numerous complaints from parents of RPS students regarding allegations of poor meal quality and perceived non-compliance with both the federal nutrition standards as well as the vended meals contract.
Mr. Jason Kamras
September 28, 2021
Page FourThe federal child nutrition programs are in place to ensure children have access to healthy and nutritious meals during and outside of school hours. The requirements and funding for these programs are paramount to meeting this need.
Summary and Required Action
Due to the failure to use cost as the primary award factor, the inclusion of noncompliant meal pattern specifications, and missing clauses, RPS’ SY 2021–2022 vended meals contract does not meet federal procurement guidelines. Any exceptions to continuing under this contract would have to be granted by the USDA. The VDOE-SNP requested a letter from RPS on Tuesday, September 14, 2021, and again on September 17, 2021, seeking guidance from the USDA on how to proceed with the non-compliant vended meals contract, but has yet to receive this letter or any further communication.
The SY 2021–2022 NSLP application packet will remain in the submitted for approval status. On September 17, 2021, the VDOE-SNP notified RPS that the VDOE-SNP will not be able to process the RPS SSO claims for reimbursement beginning with the September 2021 claim as there is no approved application in place and RPS may be subject to future withholding of claims for reimbursement funding. Further, the vended meals contract does not meet federal requirements and, therefore, no federal dollars nor any nonprofit school foodservice account funds can be used to pay for any provisions of this contract.
At this time, RPS has not yet submitted a fiscal year (FY) 2021–2022 CACFP application packet. If CACFP meals are claimed for reimbursement for September 2021, which is part of the FY 2020–2021 application packet, RPS will be declared seriously deficient in its operation of the CACFP on grounds of the lack of financial viability. Again, any costs associated with this program cannot utilize federal dollars nor can any nonprofit school food service account funds be used to pay for any provision of these meals.
As part of necessary corrective action going forward, the VDOE-SNP will impose a pre-issuance review requirement on any of RPS’ proposed procurements for vended meals. As per 7 CFR 210.21 (c)(1-3), the school food authority must make available its procurement documents including solicitation documents, specifications, evaluation criteria, procurement procedures, proposed contracts, and contract terms. RPS shall comply with the VDOE-SNP’s requests for changes to procurement procedures, solicitation, and contract documents to ensure that such procedures and documents reflect applicable procurement and contract requirements.
September 28, 2021
Furthermore, RPS must obtain the VDOE-SNP’s prior written approval for any change made to prototype solicitation or contract documents before issuing the review solicitation documents or execution of the revised contract. In addition, no expenditure may be made from the nonprofit school food service account for any cost resulting from a procurement failing to meet the requirements. The general fund must pay for any costs resulting from the agreement being terminated based on noncompliant procurement and reissued. Documentation must be submitted to the VDOE-SNP to substantiate the contract termination and new bid process.
You may reach me via phone at (804) 371-2339 or via email at Sandra.Curwood@doe.virginia.gov.
Sincerely,
Dr. Sandra C. Curwood, RDN
Director, Office of School Nutrition Programs
SCC/CC/rd
cc: Susan Roberson, School Nutrition Program
Crystal Crutchfield, VDOE-SNP Lead Regional Specialist
Andrea Nannery, VDOE-SNP Coordinator
Maggie Parker, VDOE-CNP Coordinator
Joy Washington, VDOE-SNP Procurement and Contracts Specialist
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