558 N. Main St., Prineville, OR 97754 | (541) 447-6205
One month after the Crook County School District asked Chartwells (a division of Compass Group North America) to make an assessment and presentation to the school board, the classified union had their own presentation to the school board in regards to potential outsourcing.
Karen Smith, Crook County Oregon School Employees Association (OSEA) President, said that the presentation was based on a study that was done, called a “white paper”, and it was sent to the school board members before they presented it.
“We just wanted to give some more information if or when they make a decision (about out-sourcing). Their (CCSD School Board) main issue with the food service was the labor costs and the time that it took for Jan Brieske and her assistant to do the work of the business side of the manager’s position.”
The new trend of outsourcing among school districts and other professional organizations has made many employees nervous, given the possible outcomes and undertones of such endeavors.
Ivan Hernandez, Crook County School District Superintendent, said that the board has never said that they would contract out. He also said, however, that the food service program could be managed a whole lot better.
“Number one, the board never talked about contracting out. They had a presentation about the food service program, and how it could be fixed. Obviously, the classified would be concerned, because they are the ones who would suffer within that process.”
Jill Simmons, OSEA Field representative for classified employees in Central Oregon, presented a PowerPoint called “Insource Oregon”, which was brought before the Crook County School Board on Monday, August 9.
In summary, according to the presentation, privatization is also known as outsourcing, and occurs when a governmental body decides to contract with a private vendor to provide services previously performed by the governmental body. The reason for outsourcing is usually about saving money, because the work can usually be done cheaper by private sector companies. Although there are some savings, it is usually short-term, and contractors pay up to 40 percent less in wages and benefits. They also save money by reducing staff and/or hours. The presentation also emphasized that the money previously being paid to public employees is now going into the coffers of the outsourcing company.
Most outsourcing contractors for public schools are multi-national corporations, based out of France or Great Britain. Chartwells is a division of the Compass Group out of Great Britain.
“Profits are leaving your community, which means less money spent in the local community.”
School districts are some of the biggest employers in many Oregon communities, and the effects of contracting out can have an even greater negative impact on the community. OSEA said that the best ideas to cut costs and improve services come from the workers that actually perform these jobs. Simmons concluded by saying that the OSEA members and professional staff have been, and will continue to be, committed to working collaboratively in solving these problems in the best interest of all concerned.
“Right now the school board is identifying that they are not planning to do that (contract out), but given the fact that Chartwells was invited to do an analysis, which we also believe was not an accurate analysis of our food service program, we want the school board to have a full picture,” said Carla Wilson, Assistant Cook at the Crook County Middle School. “I think that they could solve a lot of problems in the district, and a food coordinator hired in-district, like one of the head cooks, is really needed. It doesn’t have to be hired outside of the district. We do need some kind of policing for our group, I just feel like we have been kicked to the curb.”
“We do know the inner-workings of everything that happens in the kitchen, and better than Chartwells or anybody would,” said Charlene Osborne, head cook at Crooked River Elementary. “We know where things could be fixed.” Osborne added that many of the recommendations that Chartwells made could be applied by the kitchen staff at the school district.
The majority of the kitchen staff had consensus that the Chartwell’s analysis wasn’t accurate, and they alleged that they were literally there for about five minutes in each school. In the middle school, they felt it wasn’t a good representation, and Chartwells came during a break between classes, when there weren’t any students moving through the line. They also were concerned about issues such as special menu needs for students.
“No one can speak as well about the work that is done by classified employees, than classified employees,” said Simmons. “What I am hopeful for, is that before they (CCSD school board) move in the direction of potential contracting out — whether it be for management or entire departments, that they would want to come and talk to us and brainstorm with us and see if we can work together to resolve these problems. We are in the business of trying to resolve these problems. These people work in this community, they have vested interest in this community, they have children that probably went through the system here, they love and care about these kids, and they go the extra mile. You don’t get that from contractors, you just don’t.”
“I think that the classified could work it out and do some suggestions that Chartwells offered, and pull together and stabilize the cost,” said Smith. She said that she hopes that the district will look at the suggestions from Chartwells, as applied by the district, rather than out-sourcing.
