Cafeteria workers at Tulsa Public Schools expressed frustration Monday night following the district’s contract renewal with food supplier Aramark.
The board of education approved several items at its regular meeting, including a nearly $800 million preliminary budget for 2025-2026.
Following the budget approval, representatives from Aramark were invited to give a presentation outlining both future goals and past struggles. Aramark replaced TPS’ longtime food supplier, Sodexo, in June 2024.
Aramark’s struggles in the district were clear from the start. Early in the presentation, Vice President Derek Jones cited an incident last school year where a company employee allegedly crashed a TPS vehicle. Jones said the worker in question is no longer with the company.
“I think one thing that we need to do is improve our union relationship,” Jones said.
Several TPS cafeteria workers, represented by the American Federation of Teachers Local 6049, were in the audience. TPS Superintendent Dr. Ebony Johnson acknowledged that there have been “some challenges that have been raised by our cafeteria managers, our staff, regarding working relationships.”
When board member Stacey Woolley asked about food quality concerns, Jones said that “we need to do more training around food quality and menu compliance,” appearing to shift blame toward TPS cafeteria staff for not following menus.
That comment elicited groans from cafeteria staffers who were present.
“A crock of shit,” one employee said while walking out of the meeting.
“We were not treated equally,” said Alicia Jimenez, who works at Hale High School.
Jimenez said Aramark shrank food portions. Ginnie Holly, who works at Rodgers Middle and High Schools, said certain menu items from the company were incorrectly labeled.
AFT 6049 President Nancy Leonard expressed fear that Aramark would try to push existing workers out of their jobs.
“I’m not going to have my people reapply for their positions when they’ve been here 27 years. This is ridiculous,” Leonard said.
Johnson requested a meeting be held soon between cafeteria staff and Aramark leadership.
“We want to make sure that our support staff members are seen, heard,” Johnson said.
