District subsidizes school lunches
Source: CAROLYN NORTON, The Herald-Sun (NC), Dec 12, 2005
Faced with the $400,000 subsidy this fall, the school board asked for an independent financial review of Sodexho's program. The review, done by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, found that per-hour labor costs are too high. School district food service employees start at $10.14 an hour, higher than surrounding districts because of the higher cost of living in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. However, the employees also average 15 years of service, raising the average wages to $12.73. In an effort to lower labor costs, the district is making new food service workers employees of Sodexho, which starts at $8.50 an hour, instead of hiring them directly. However, officials say, the process has been slow because food services has a turnover rate of less than 10 percent a year. Since 2003, when the board decided to switch new employees to Sodexho, 19 positions have been moved to the corporation, which could save the district $100,000 this year, officials say.