After 60 years of having school breakfasts and lunches trucked in, South Bristol School might get kitchen facilities.
School officials have been researching costs, companies, and building materials for the addition of kitchen facilities in the South Bristol School gymnasium and community center, according to SBS Principal Scott White.
“Breakfast and lunch are trucked over from Bristol Consolidated School daily,” AOS 93 Superintendent Steven Bailey said. “There isn’t a good heating method between the schools.”
The transportation of food causes restrictions in what the school can offer, and results in temperature variations in the meals served.
Currently, South Bristol School employs a six-hour-a-day kitchen worker for the kitchen program.
According to White, the kitchen would only need an employee for two more hours a day.
“The cost of running our current food program is $5,000, and after conversion of facilities, it wouldn’t cost much more than that,” White said.
South Bristol Board of Selectmen Chairman Ken Lincoln said he would not hesitate to bring the idea to taxpayers.
“If we had the ability to prepare food there, we could get more use out of the building,” Lincoln said during a Dec. 4 meeting.
White said the school administration would look into getting information about cost and materials for the kitchen projects, and gather community input.
South Bristol School officials are also looking into options and costs for the removal of an underground oil tank, according to White.
“It has reached its lifespan,” White said.
White said Maine Department of Environmental Protection regulations indicate that the school’s underground oil tank must be emptied and removed no later than Aug. 19, 2016.
“Given the scope of this work, as well as maintaining an aging boiler, AOS 93 Superintendent Steve Bailey and I met with selectmen Dec. 4,” White said. “The purpose of the meeting was to work collaboratively in moving forward with addressing our building needs.”
It was decided during the selectmen’s meeting that school officials would contract an engineering company, develop a couple of options for oil tank replacement, choose the best option, establish specifications for the work, and then move forward with the bidding procedure.
“Throughout this process, the school and town will work together,” White said.
