Heading into the new year, Chelsea School District faces a big decision: a potential shift in the student lunch provider. Cafeteria food has long been an essential part of the high school experience, with several students relying on it as a meal every day. Additionally, discourse and spirited debate surrounding it comprises a significant amount of student culture, discussions of old and new favorites commonplace. It’s a significant change that will impact hundreds of students, but many remain unfamiliar with what that process would actually look like.
“We have a third-party contract with a company called Chartwells,” superintendent Micheal Kapolka said. “When it ends, we do a bidding process where food service businesses that would like to provide service to our district can bid on the open job that we have. In this case, Chartwells has the opportunity to bid again. We have a group of individuals that listen to the companies’ presentations, and then, as a district, we make the decision of which one we want to go with. We sign a contract for two three or even five years. We really have flexibility.”
Lunch quality is frequently debated, but — despite occasional grievances — the consensus among students remains generally positive.
“I don’t really have any big quality issues with the food,” junior Hannah Lesser said. “It gives students a lot of choices with the options we have now. Some of the options are unhealthy, but you don’t have to get food like that if you don’t want to. There are options.”
This year, the process itself is undergoing a larger shift: the incorporation of student feedback. This year, the administration is working to provide students a voice in a decision that directly affects nearly all of them.
“Previously, it hadn’t played much of a role,” said Kapolka. “This time around, we want to look at that a little differently. Students are the consumers. Every single day, they’re making a choice: either bringing or buying lunch. And if you’re looking to buy, we want you to be able to provide feedback and have a say in that. So right now, the administration has a student advisory committee.”
Though created several years prior, this year offers the committee a unique opportunity to directly voice concerns to the administration regarding lunch.
“Some big talking points this year surround our food,” Kapolka said. “What’s really good about it? What are some areas that can be improved? And then that way, we can share when the bidding process happens and say what our students are looking for. We also talked about potentially having a time where any students — whether they’re on the committee or not — could use something like a written suggestion area where you could drop in comments to the administration. Like, hey, this is great. Or this isn’t great. That’s what we’re looking for.”
Although switching providers may seem like a welcome shift, some students question which overarching issues would actually be addressed.
“It could be healthier, but I’m not entirely sure switching the provider would fix anything,” freshman Charlie Getty said. “I think the school has a responsibility to provide nutritious food, but I’m unsure of how that could be balanced with having students actually enjoy it.”
A district-wide decision, this could potentially alter the dining options for every K-12 student in Chelsea, widening the variety of options.
“Our student body is eclectic in terms of their culinary wants and needs,” said Kapolka. “We’re trying to find a happy medium where it isn’t just one specific type of food every day. We’re also working on incorporating some of the choices at the high school into other buildings, so by the time you get to the high school, it’s not completely different. We always hear eighth graders coming up to the building and being amazed at the amount of choices, so we’d like to be able to do those things in the other buildings as much as we can.”
Ultimately, whether the provider remains the same or not, it’s clear that several students would remain satisfied either way.
“I wouldn’t really care too much,” Getty said. “As long as it’s not crap food.”
