Senate Bill S5881

                                BILL NUMBER:S5881

TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the education law, in relation to contracts for the
provision, maintenance and operation of cafeteria or restaurant
service by a private food service management company

PURPOSE:

To allow school districts to pick a proposal for services based on the
"best value" which may take into account factors beyond cost.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 would amend § 305(14)(e) of the Education Law to allow for
transportation and cafeteria contracts to be awarded through a request
for proposals process based on "best value". Currently, State law
requires the awarding of school district contracts to lowest,
responsible bidders. For complex technical and service contracts, this
would allow districts to consider other factors in awarding contracts.
This might include costs, such as conversion costs, rather than solely
the price bid for a product.

Section 2 provides the effective date.

              

JUSTIFICATION:

Amendments to § 305 (14)(e) of the Education Law would eliminate the
requirement that contracts for maintenance and operation of cafeteria
or restaurant services be competitively bid. Instead, this act would
allow these contracts and transportation contracts to be awarded
through a request for proposals process by "best value" consistent
with Chapter 2 of the Laws of 2012.

Best value procurement is most useful when a service has a unique
objective or challenge that may be difficult to meet using traditional
low bid procurement. Child Nutrition Food Services is an excellent
candidate for a best value approach. School districts from across the
state, including several in Westchester County, support changing the
current bidding process in order to allow them to improve the quality
of the food served, recognizing that a healthy diet is essential to
succeeding in school. Using a best value approach would offer each
school district the opportunity to improve the quality of food for
their students taking into account the uniqueness of the district
including geographic location, free and reduced population, current
facilities, and interest in wellness.

Understanding that price must be a primary evaluation criterion,
additional evaluation criteria should be established that addresses
the other needs of school district communities such as: menus and food
offerings, ability to procure locally sourced ingredients, ability to
increase student participation, management expertise, past performance
and history, evidence of training programs, and nutrition education
and awareness programs. Recognizing that the lowest bidder process
often produces low quality programs, Massachusetts, Rhode Island,
Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania currently solicit food


service contracts via a best value RFP process utilizing evaluation
criteria beyond just price.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Bill

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to the State.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

This act shall take effect on July 1, 2015.