OAR 581-051-0510: Definitions

The following definitions apply to the Rules 581-051-0500 to 581-051-0590. (1) "Competitive Negotiation" means a method of procurement whereby proposals are solicited from a number of sources, proposals are evaluated according to published criteria, and negotiations are conducted with one or more of the proposers. (2) "Contract" means an agreement in writing, including the Sponsor's solicitation document and the accepted portions of the proposal, between a Sponsor and a Food Service Management Company, describing the work to be done and the obligations of the parties. (3) "Department" means the Department of Education. (4) "Sponsor" means any Oregon school district and any school, of high school grade or under, recognized as part of the educational system of this state and operating under private nonprofit or public ownership, in a single building or campus; and public or licensed private nonprofit residential child care facility; or any other entity meeting the definition of "school food authority" under 7 CFR Section 210 et seq., Section 220 et seq., Section 225 et seq., and Section 226 et seq. (5) "Food Service Management Company" means a commercial enterprise or nonprofit association that contracts or proposes to contract with a Sponsor to manage any aspect of school food service. FSMC may contract or propose to contract with Sponsors participating in the Child and Adult Care for meals only. (6) "Food Service Management Services" means management of any aspect of food service. (7) "Federal Policy" means any directive adopted and published by the United States Department of Agriculture which regulates or interprets regulations, or which recommends procedures or standards for implementation, of Child Nutrition Programs. Federal policy specifically includes, but is not limited to, the publications "Contracting with Food Service Management Companies: Guidance for School Food Authorities," June 1995, and "Contracting with Food Service Management Companies: Guidance for State Agencies," June 1995, and any amendments and revisions to said publications. (8) "Meal Equivalency Ratio" means the number of dollars in non-reimbursable food sales per equivalent pattern meal. It is a component of payment structure in many FSMC contracts. Where contracts provide for payment of a fee based on the number of meals and allow service of foods other than reimbursable pattern meals (such as a la carte food sales, catered food sales, and other similar food sales), the contract shall provide that sales of food other than reimbursable pattern meals be converted into an equivalent number of reimbursable meals. (a) The ratio is based on National School Lunch Program meals. (b) The value of a reimbursable meal is the current free reimbursement rate plus the per meal commodity rate. (9) "National School Lunch Program" means the program under which participating schools operate a nonprofit lunch program in accordance with Part 210, Title 7, Code of Federal Regulations. Cash assistance and donated food assistance are made available to schools pursuant to this program. (10) "Proposal" means a competitive offer, binding on the offer or and submitted in response to a Request for Proposals, where proposal evaluation and contract award is based on criteria such as proposer qualifications and experience, service features and characteristics, quality and efficiency, and conformance with the specifications and requirements of the solicitation. Price must be an evaluation criterion for proposals, but will not necessarily be the predominant basis for contract award. (11) "Requests for Proposals" means an instrument of competitive negotiation used to solicit proposals from a number of sources. (12) "Responsible Offeror" means an individual, firm or corporation who has the experience and capacity in all respects to perform fully the contract requirements, the integrity and reliability which will assure good faith performance, and who has not been disqualified by regulation. (13) "School Year" means the period from July 1 of each calendar year to June 30 of the following calendar year. (14) "Twenty-One Day Cycle Menu" means the menu with food item specifications developed in accordance with 7 CFR Section 210.10 or 210.10a, as applicable. (15) “Vendor” means a commercial enterprise or nonprofit association that contracts or proposes to contract with a Sponsor to provide only food without management. These organizations are not Food Service Management Companies (FSMC).