HESPA Says NO to Privatization

04/29/2015

Extremely sad week for workers in Hendry County. The final school board vote:

Stephanie Busin: Yes to privatize
Sally Berg: Yes to privatize
Jon Basquin: Yes to privatize
Rev. Dwayne Brown: No to privatize

Please see the Hendry County School Board website for when they are up for re-election. Special thanks for all the hard-working school board employees and community members who were present last night.

04/28/2015

What people can do when they band together. Awesome.

04/28/2015

TODAY TODAY TODAY the school board makes the final decision on whether to privatize. We'll be rallying at 4:30pm prior to the meeting and have signs for everyone. See you there!!

04/27/2015

TOMORROW: We'll be rallying at the Hendry County Courthouse at 4:30pm! We'll have signs and buttons for all folks attending. This is the big vote - the school board will finally decide on whether to privatize our county schools' entire food service department, severely affecting the lives of our lunch ladies. BRING YOUR FRIENDS AND BRING YOUR FAMILY. See you there!

04/27/2015

The board votes tomorrow! Don't forget to tell your friends, family, and community members to come out to the board meeting!

04/23/2015

Make sure to pick up this week's Caloosa Belle or Clewiston News for our message to the public!

04/22/2015

04/22/2015

Great turnout so far - come join us!

04/22/2015

Coffee with Teachers TODAY - 4:30pm at the LaBelle Dunkin' Donuts. HESPA is treating teachers to a cup o' joe on us while we explain the privatization situation in Hendry county. See you there!

04/22/2015

What happens when you subcontract. Just say "NO!" to privatization!

04/21/2015

REMINDER: HESPA invites all Hendry County teachers to a cup of coffee on us to discuss the current threat of privatization against our food service workers. Tomorrow at 4:30pm at the LaBella Dunkin Donuts. SEE-YOU-THERE!

04/20/2015

This is one of the foreign corporations bidding to take over our school's lunch rooms!

"On Sept. 16, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), chairwoman of the House Agriculture Appropriations subcommittee, wrote a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack calling for an inspector general investigation into the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs.

DeLauro said the programs warranted further scrutiny after Sodexo agreed to a $20 million settlement this past July for failing to pass on rebates to several school districts in New York.

“I write to you today to ask the USDA to begin an investigation by the Officer of the Inspector General and to alert state education and agriculture agencies to the $20 million settlement between New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo and Sodexo for overcharging 21 New York school districts and the SUNY system for food service,” DeLauro said in her letter to Vilsack.

If the department decided to open up a probe, it could put a significant chunk of Sodexo’s business under scrutiny. The French-based company dominates the food services industry, along with Aramark Corp. and the Compass Group, and has contracts across the country to provide school lunches.

A House Democratic aide said an investigation into the school lunch program would not focus solely on Sodexo. Nonetheless, the company would face questions over its handling of the school contracts.

“This is classic ‘Let’s go to private contractors to save money.’ Sodexo is just the example,” said the aide. “To think they are not passing along the rebates like they should to make a buck is egregious.”

Sodexo, Inc., is already facing questions over its handling of a food service contract with the U.S. Marine Corps.