Outsourced Custodians Deal on BOE Agenda

Updated with comment from the Board of Education president.

The business agenda for the Madison Board of Education's Tuesday meeting includes a resolution to award a nearly $1.28 million contract to Aramark to have the company handle most of the district's custodial services next school year.

The Board of Education has been considering scenarios where the district would go from 20 to 35 custodians by turning to an outside company, such as Aramark, instead of handling all of its custodial services in-house.

District officials have said the scenarios include keeping six custodians as Board of Education employees, meaning about 14 of the district's full-time employees could be cut.

The public portion of the meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the Alice Perlaw Library Media Center at .

Regarding a resident , and not yet voted on, Board of Education President Lisa said the school board will see how things go at the meeting and that it is more transparent to have the resolution on the agenda.

"I would rather have to table something if it becomes necessary than not have it out there in the first place," Ellis said.

Any savings the Madison school district could see from outsourcing custodial services for current employees, district business adminsitrator Gary Lane said during a budget presentation.

Some officials say the 15 additional custodians are needed after staffing was reduced amid budget cuts.

The adopted budget includes salaries and benefits for the existing 20 custodial staff members. Any savings could help fund other things, though the amount of any savings that can be used in the first year is limited, Lane has said.

A document posted on the district homepage says how the committee arrived at picking Aramark, which submitted the second most expensive of the four proposals, but scored well in other categories.

"While Aramark came in third in regards to price, their references, corporate support and resources led them to achieve the highest score regarding Contractor's Financial Viability, Strength, Capability and Record of Performance," according to the report, which details the criteria and how each committee member scored .

"In reviewing the resume and interview of Aramark's Proposed candidate, they were given the highest ranking for On-Site Management Team," it says. "Aramark took third for its Staffing Viability as it met the requirements in the RFP; they had 1 custodial FTE lower than two of their competitors. They received the second highest ranking for the Contractor's Proposed Program as it was slightly less thorough than GCA's. Lastly, their startup plan ranked highest for its comprehensiveness and detail."

The resolution:

g. Approval of Custodial and Management Services Contract

WHEREAS, on March 28, 2011, the Division of Local Government Services granted the request of the Madison Board of Education (hereinafter referred to as the "Board") to utilize the competitive contracting process in lieu of public bidding and request proposals for the management and staffing of the Madison Public School District's Custodial Services Department;

WHEREAS, on or about February 6, 2012, the Board published an advertisement which solicited requests for proposals for custodial and management services;

WHEREAS, the Board requested proposals for custodial and management services;

WHEREAS, on March 7, 2012, the Board accepted four (4) sealed proposals for custodial and management services;

WHEREAS, a committee was established to evaluate the proposals and rank the proposals in accordance with the weighting criteria set forth in the request for proposals;

WHEREAS, the committee has issued a report which evaluates and ranks the proposals in accordance with the weighting of criteria set forth in the specifications and presented a recommendation on the outsourcing of all custodial services for consideration by the Board;

WHEREAS, the Board has reviewed the report and accepted the recommendation of the committee on which proposal should be accepted; and

WHEREAS, the Board has concluded that the proposal submitted by Aramark Management Services, Limited Partnership. (hereinafter referred to "Aramark") is the most advantageous, price and other factors considered;

BE IT RESOLVED that the Board accepts the proposal submitted by Aramark and awards a custodial and management services contract for all custodial services 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 school years in the following amounts, subject to annual appropriation, with an option for two (2) one (1) year extensions at the Board's discretion:

• 2012-2013 school year- $1,279,783.08
• 2013-2014 school year- $1,311,777.08