School-lunch provider rehired at Poplar Bluff months after rodent infestation

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Chartwells will remain lunch provider for the Poplar Bluff School District after its contract was renewed Thursday, just a few months after a rodent infestation was uncovered in January in a food storage area.

Company regional vice president Bruce Norman spoke at the meeting, touching on the company's successes in the district over the years. In light of the rodent incident, Norman cited better communication and increased transparency.

"Communication and transparency is obviously very important here. We upped the ante with the new board policy and including things," he said. "We have always been transparent with the financials and statistics. Now we are including priorities and inventories and working closely with facilities and maintenance to make sure if you put a work order in, it's checked off. If not it's followed up."

Two Chartwells managers were fired in January in the wake of the rodent infestation in a warehouse that stored food for cafeterias. The Butler County, Missouri, Health Department found a "severe" infestation at the warehouse after mouse-dropping-covered goods were delivered to the kindergarten center.

Norman publicly apologized to the school district during its regular meeting later that month. Several parents of students, however, expressed dissatisfaction with the company, and several also were upset with school officials for not alerting them to the problem until after a story was published in the Daily American Republic.

School administrators in a memo before the meeting recommended a vote to renew the contract, citing improvements in food services and a longstanding relationship with the company.

Board members voted unanimously to approve the Chartwells contract for the school year 2016-2017. Member Steve Sells, serving on a food-quality committee formed in the wake of the incident, said Chartwells has made vast improvements and should remain.

"I'm a 'yes' vote on food service tonight, because we have too many other things going on," Sells said. "We had a little bump in the road; you guys are taking some action to fix that and made some replacements. Everything you've done is appreciated, and we do have a great long-standing relationship."