Apr 20, 2009 3 min read

Brownsville Area School Board will be reviewing two proposals from food service management companies, with plans to award the contract to a vendor next month. The district’s superintendent, business manager and solicitor are reviewing the proposals and have asked that the board meet to discuss the contract before the board’s next meeting. Nutrition Inc., the district’s current food service provider, has been the subject of questions from the public at recent board meetings.

At Thursday night’s regular meeting, Nena Kaminsky, a school board candidate in the upcoming primary, urged the board to not renew Nutrition Inc.’s contract. She accused the West Newton-based company of owing the district $700,000, and asked if district officials have made progress in having the money refunded to the district.

Dr. Philip Savini, district superintendent, said district officials are researching another portion of Nutrition Inc.’s current contract with the district that involves invoices, and the company is under consideration to be retained until the district’s research is complete.

Savini indicated that starting a district-run cafeteria operation, as board members have previously discussed as a possible cost-saving measure, remains an option.

The district’s contract with Nutrition Inc. expires in May. District officials reminded board members Thursday that its food service management contract must be awarded by June 1 in accordance with state Department of Education regulations.

In other business, the board voted to use money as a result of an insurance claim to fund the construction of a booster support facility, repair a window in the district administration building and design a new district office sign.

The booster support facility will be constructed at Redstone Field. Construction will cost around $5,000, according to Savini, who said the project is being done for aesthetic and sanitary reasons. He said rentals in the next two years will pay for the facility.

Meanwhile, the board approved a motion for a dual-enrollment class to be held at the high school during next school year. The freshman composition class will be offered as college credit after school hours, according to the meeting agenda. Lynn Petko, lecturer at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, will teach the class, which will be at no cost to the district.

The board also approved the following field trip requests: about 40 Cox-Donahey fifth-graders traveling to Hershey Park in May with 16 chaperones; 15 students attending the Future is Mine Leadership Conference this month at the Pittsburgh Marriott City Center; about 75 freshman students traveling to Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio, in June; 18 life-skills students traveling to Laurel Caverns in May for science/geological exploration; about 45 eighth-grade students traveling to Cedar Point in June; 40 middle school chorus students attending an opera performance in May at the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh; 45 band members traveling to Niagara Falls, N.Y., to perform at the North American Music Festival in May; Central Elementary School students attending trips to Living Treasures Zoo, Laurel Caverns, Fallingwater, Fort Necessity and California University of Pennsylvania’s “Earth from Space” Smithsonian exhibit; and about 150 middle school students traveling to PNC Park in Pittsburgh for a Pirates ballgame.

Concerning the latter, middle school teacher Angie Stiner, sponsor of the trip, said the Pittsburgh Pirates donated 200 tickets to the school for students to attend the game.

The field trips are expected to be at no cost to the district. They will be funded either through grants or money raised by parent-teacher organizations.