School districts join forces

The Oceanside and Island Park school districts are joining forces to get the biggest bang for their buck.

With districts across New York State already adapting to state aid cuts for the 2011-12 academic year, both will participate in Food Service Cooperative bids that will allow them to receive higher volumes of food at a lower cost for their students.

Oceanside Schools Assistant Superintendent for Businesses Louis Frontario said he is optimistic the agreement between the two districts — plus Baldwin and East Rockaway — will save “significant dollars” in the long term. “We reached out to some of our neighbors and what we got out of it are the best possible prices,” said Frontario. “We look for every opportunity to share information and services with them.”

All four districts will be able to purchase various commodities related to their breakfast and lunch programs, such as milk, cereal, pizza and soft drinks. Oceanside will lead the efforts as the head participant, as Frontario has already worked with the school district’s attorney to write the bid specifications. Food service directors and purchasing agents from Oceanside, Island Park, Baldwin and East Rockaway have all already met together to discuss the details of the bids.

The lunch item packages will outnumber the breakfast packages, Frontario said, and are in keeping with Oceanside’s wellness policy. “We have some choose sensibly snacks on the table,” he said. “They meet the guidelines for wellness.”

Island Park’s involvement in the cooperative was also done out of a need to cut costs. Stephen Valente, the district’s director of business, said that Island Park wanted to participate with neighboring districts to get more for its money and to solidify its outside working relationships.

Valente said that 2011-12 will be the first year Oceanside will work with Island Park to secure the best bids for food products. In the past, the two coordinated its breakfast and lunch services independently. “The relationship with them so far has been great,” Valente said of working with Oceanside. “We’re ensuring that we’ll be getting the biggest bang for the buck.”