2627NCAFSMC

Northwest Classical Academy, a School Food Authority (SFA) located in Kennesaw, Georgia, is issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) for Food Service Management Company (FSMC) services to manage school food operations for the 2026-2027 school year and potentially four additional one-year renewal terms. The academy serves 955 students in grades K-12 and seeks an FSMC to operate the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) with optional expansion to include the School Breakfast Program (SBP), Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), Seamless Summer Option (SSO), and ancillary services such as à la carte meals, adult meals, and catering. The selected FSMC will be responsible for all food purchases, employee salaries and benefits, operational expenses, and meal preparation and service, operating within existing kitchen infrastructure and the academy's Boonli lunch software ordering system; the academy maintains approximately 180-200 lunch services daily and retains control over meal pricing, free and reduced-price eligibility determinations, USDA Foods allocation, and site-based staffing decisions. Proposals will be evaluated on a weighted scoring system totaling 100 points: cost and financial proposal (20 points), service capability plan (16 points), experience and references (16 points), business practices and financial stability (8 points), accounting systems (8 points), and innovation (4 points). The pre-proposal meeting is scheduled for March 18, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. at 3010 Cobb Parkway NW, Kennesaw, GA 30152; the deadline for written questions is March 25, 2026, at 3:00 p.m.; and proposals are due April 2, 2026, at 1:30 p.m., with public opening at 2:00 p.m. The contract term commences July 1, 2026, and concludes June 30, 2027, with potential extension up to three months under extraordinary circumstances.

The RFP documentation does not specify any set-aside designations or restrictions limiting responses to particular organization types or disadvantaged enterprises. The current incumbent meal pricing serves as a baseline reference, with the existing federal NSLP reimbursement rate at $4.60 per lunch, a paid meal price of $4.83, and reduced-price meals at $0.40; January 2026 participation data indicates 192 free meals, 40 reduced-price meals, and 620 paid meals served daily. The FSMC must comply with federal regulations including Buy American provisions for domestic food products, USDA food safety standards, and professional certification requirements for food service directors and staff, and must maintain comprehensive insurance coverage and submit to health inspections. The academy has existing kitchen equipment available for vendor assessment and currently uses Boonli lunch software for order generation from parent submissions, which the selected FSMC must integrate with and utilize. No specific award value or budget range is disclosed in the solicitation documents; pricing will be determined through the competitive proposal process using the fixed-price per meal contract structure.