DeSoto County moves to privatize school meals

ARCADIA, Fla. — DeSoto County is planning to outsource school meals, leading to pusback from the local teacher's union.

The school district is requesting bids from private companies to "provide healthy, minimally processed, wholesome, appealing meals," according to it's website.

Cafeteria employees will have the option to remain employed with the school district or join the new company, Superintendent Bobby Bennett said.

The district has not finalized a deal, but it would go into effect this summer. It still has to be approved by the federal government and the school board, Bennett said.

The superintendent argued that privatizing meals will lead to higher-quality food. Students currently eat pre-packaged meals, Bennett said. He hopes to introduce more options that are actually cooked on-site.

“We think that the meal variety, menu selections will be better, we think the food quality will be better," Bennett told FOX 4.

DeSoto County is a Title 1 school district, which means it has a high concentration of low-income students. Bennett said school meals are free for every student. 53% of DeSoto County students eat school lunch, Bennett said, while 17% eat school breakfast.

The superintendent said those numbers should be higher.

"If McDonald's or Burger King or Wendy's was giving free hamburgers away for lunch everyday of the week, I would eat there five days a week," Bennett said. "With free lunches and free breakfasts our participation rates ought to be better."

The district spent almost $1.2 million on school meals during the 2025-26 school year, according to a budget summary. The federal government covered 98% of the cost. The federal government would cover 100% of the cost on this new deal, Bennett said.

The move to is raising alarms with the Florida Education Association (FEA). Wilfredo Tellado is the director of the Peace River Basin Service Unit, which represents cafeteria workers in DeSoto County. Tellado said they were taken by surprise.

"If the issue is the food, again, no conversation with us at all,” Tellado said.

He questioned whether a private company is a good fit for public schools.

“So where is the profit coming from?," Tellado said. "It’s gotta come from somewhere. Either increase meal prices, cutback on the quality of the food, or cutback on salary benefits.”

Tellado said he would like to sit down with district leadership to better understand its decision.

Bennett pointed to the Hendry County School District, which recently privatized school meals. He said 84% of students ate free lunch and 34% ate breakfast - much higher than in DeSoto County.

Bennett stressed the issue isn't with the school employees.

"We think our folks are good," Bennett said. "We think we can buy better food through one of these companies [and] that’s our desire."