NORTHFIELD — Pioneer Valley Regional School will still provide meals to students learning out of the former Pearl Rhodes Elementary School, now that the Greenfield Commonwealth Virtual School is leasing a classroom there.
The Pioneer Valley Regional School District School Committee approved an agreement during last week’s meeting for Pioneer to provide breakfasts and lunches to the Virtual School during the four days of the week it operates. According to Pioneer Food Service Director Michael Onorato, the arrangement will bring the Pioneer school district an estimated $1,000 to $2,000 in additional revenue each month.
“This would be a co-beneficial agreement,” he said.
The Virtual School agreed to a price of $4.50 per lunch and $3 per breakfast, whereas the district normally charges $3 per lunch and $2 per breakfast. Onorato said Pioneer will send the school an invoice for each month’s food costs.
According to Onorato, the Virtual School first reached out to him in the fall about providing satellite meals for its students. Based on the agreement, how the arrangement will work is the Virtual School will place an order for the number of meals needed each day. This will require Pioneer to provide an average of five meals each day that the students are in school.
The Virtual School will also provide its own containers for food, and use its own transportation and a “hot bag” to pick up meals at Pioneer and bring them to Leyden. According to Onorato, health codes state there is a two-hour window from the time an item is cooked at the proper internal temperature of “165 degrees for 15 seconds,” to when it is served without the need to reheat, chill or discard the food. The “hot bag” ensures the food stays at the required temperatures until it is served.
“Within 30 minutes of pickup, the meal is already consumed,” Onorato said.
During the School Committee’s discussion, Chair Kristen Gonzalez confirmed the agreement had been reviewed by the School Committee’s legal counsel before it was brought for the full committee’s approval.
In addition to the Pioneer school district gaining the additional revenue through the agreement with the Virtual School, Onorato also hopes wholesale food purchases might be cheaper next year, as the district plans to start working with the Massachusetts School Buying Group.
“It should help us next year,” he said. “It’s much better than the prices we are paying now.”
Zack DeLuca can be reached at zdeluca@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 264.