The Washoe County School District (WCSD) Board of Trustees has voted to approve a one-year contract with Southwest Foodservice Excellence (SFE), LLC to manage the district’s food service program, which provides more than 8.5 million meals to its 60,000 students annually.
The decision was made after discussion during a public meeting of the Board which followed a lengthy public process for soliciting and considering proposals from four food service companies.
“Providing good nutrition with foods our students want to eat is vital to the learning process and for our students’ overall health and well-being, and the choice of a food service company is an important one for our district,” said WCSD Board President Beth Smith. “We've listened to the voices of kids and families and believe SFE will provide the best management of our food service program.”
“USDA requires school districts to contract for a term of one year, with an option for an additional four one-year renewals before we are required to open up bidding to other companies,” said Adam Searcy, Chief Operating Officer for WCSD. “WCSD was required to open bidding for the 2025-26 school year, and following a comprehensive and highly competitive proposal process, we chose Southwest Foodservice Excellence as the most qualified vendor to present to the Board of Trustees for consideration.
“We anticipate that SFE will most effectively utilize all available resources, provide higher quality meals, and increase student participation in the school lunch program,” Searcy continued, “which will generate more revenue for the Enterprise Fund that supports Nutrition Services.”
During the 2025-26 school year, WCSD will continue to provide free meals to 68 schools based on USDA programs, while students who are receiving free lunch at other schools will be reminded in the fall and must reapply for those benefits to continue receiving them. That process will take place in August and September, and families will be notified at the start of school. Students whose family income does not qualify are required to pay for their meals. A list of WCSD schools and their meal payment policies is available on the WCSD Nutrition Services website.
Under the new contract with SFE, families and students may use their existing My School Bucks account to pay for breakfasts, hot lunches, and other food service programs. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) may raise prices slightly during the 2025-26 school year, and families will be notified in advance of any changes.
SFE was established in Arizona in 2004 and is focused entirely on K-12 school nutrition with a consistent emphasis on providing superior food, menu variety, and increased meal participation among students. The company will provide approximately nine positions to manage the program for WCSD. The employment status of nearly 400 WCSD Nutrition Services employees who prepare meals, transport food to schools, and work in school cafeterias will not be affected by the new contract.
“SFE is a food focused organization that will be asking students for their input on meals and menus at the beginning of the school year,” said Searcy. “Based upon that feedback, the company will gradually implement new menus, ingredients, and preparation methods in the coming year. Some meal choices will be different, and menus will be provided in advance to families on the district website as in years past. We look forward to hearing from our students and seeing what SFE has in store.”
(Washoe County School District)
