Eagle Point SD 9 opens federally required food-service RFP; evaluation will prioritize cost and food quality

EAGLE POINT, Ore. — Eagle Point SD 9 staff told the board on March 20 that the district has issued a federally required request for proposals for its food-service management contract and described how proposals will be evaluated.

Mister Hogan said federal rules require re‑solicitation every five years; the district’s mandatory walkthrough drew representatives from Sodexo, Chartwells, Genuine Foods and Southwest Food Service Excellence. He said the state provides a template for scoring but the district added a food‑quality criterion.

“The state makes us put cost as the single biggest factor,” Hogan said, explaining the scoring rubric. Hogan said the district will award 40 points for cost and 35 points for perceived quality of food products, with additional points available for other criteria in the proposal.

Hogan described an evaluation team that will review proposals, apply the scoring criteria and conduct interviews or site visits as needed. He invited up to two board members to join the evaluation team and said the district will also recruit community volunteers to participate.

On the question of whether the district could operate food service in‑house, Hogan said the district “could absolutely do it in house,” but noted that historically the district contracted out because of recruitment challenges for a qualified food-service director.

Hogan disclosed he hired a paid consultant to support the RFP process and acknowledged the consultant is his wife. He said he planned to invite her to serve as one of the community members on the evaluation team but had not finalized whether she would have voting authority on the panel. That statement was recorded on the public record.

No award decision was made at the March 20 meeting. Staff said they will accept proposals, evaluate them using the stated criteria, and return recommended actions to the board after scoring and any interviews or site visits.