School food program costs more than planned

Before submitting the final budget to the state today, the Carson City School District had to make some last-minute adjustments.

While the district received about $87,000 more in revenue than expected, a miscalculation in food services meant it had to pay $338,000 more than $200,000 planned.

Finance director Tony Turley explained that he took over the job just as the district was switching to food-service provider Aramark Education.

He said some mistakes in calculating the formula for salaries and benefits - using numbers from 2009 instead of 2010 - and opting out of some programs that could increase sales, left them over budget.

He apologized to the school board Tuesday for the error.

"This is a big miss for me," he said. "And I don't like to miss."

Trustee Ron Swirczek said the district switched to the contractor Aramark as a way to save money.

"It sounds like we're not getting what we bargained for," he said.

Turley said no district in the state runs a nutrition program that breaks even. But, he said, as the kinks are worked out of the program, the district should spend considerably less than it has in the past, which in some years has been as high as $800,000.

He said the district plans to increase sales next year by adding snack carts at the schools, and by starting off at the high school with all the food stations open for business. He said the stations there didn't all open until the final month of school last year.

School board president Joanna Wilson said there should be some allowance for a learning curve during the first year.

"I don't know any business that opens up and hits its immediate goal," she said.

Trustee Lynette Conrad said she sees other successes.

"We do have to look at it from a financial point of view, but my focus was to feed the students more nutritious meals," she said. "I think Aramark has done a very good job with that."