The Detroit school board has decided to let its contract with Aramark Educational Services to expire on June 30. Aramark has managed the $44-million food-services operation since 2001. The district must now find a company to manage food operations for summer school. The board also voted to hire an executive director of food services. The vote came after at least a year of lobbying and protests by union employees, who argued that district employees could do a better and cheaper job of running the food services.
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EARLIER: The Detroit school board has taken the first step toward getting rid of the company that has run the district's food services for the past seven years. A subcommittee has recommended terminating the contract of Aramark Educational Services LLC. The district privatized food services in June 2001, but over the past year, some have protested the quality and costs associated with the contract.
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FROM APRIL 2008: Michigan officials who initially questioned the legality of $1.6 million in fees Detroit Public Schools had paid for food services have now concluded the fees are within the law. The Michigan Department of Education concluded that after further review, procurement fees charged over two years by food services manager Aramark Educational Services LLC met federal standards.
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FROM MARCH 2008: Detroit Public Schools officials say they will review the district's contract and relationship with Aramark Educational Services after allegations surfaced that the school system has paid the company at least $1.6 million in questionable fees.
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FEBRUARY 2008: The food contractor for Detroit public schools pocketed rebates and discounts that should have been given back to the district and charged $1.6 million for unclear reasons, according to records obtained by the Detroit Free Press. The state has declared the "procurement fees" from Aramark Educational Services LLC as "unallowable" and in violation of law for how federal hot-lunch money is to be used.
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