BUTLER TWP — Three companies with similar visions for how the Butler School District should run its food service program presented proposals to the school board Wednesday night, highlighting student choice and high-end meals as the keys they see to increasing student participation in the district’s struggling program.

The proposals came from Metz Culinary Management of Dallas, Pa.; The Nutrition Group of Irwin, Pa.; and Aramark of Philadelphia. They each spent about an hour with board members on Wednesday, detailing the food they prepare for students and their vision for food service at Butler.

And all were in agreement on several things: choice, atmosphere and presentation all matter when it comes to getting students to participate in food service programs

“It’s all about customization,” said Don Rika, a district manager for Metz in the Pittsburgh area. “When kids can have more choices and really build their own meal, it really goes over well.”

All of the proposals used projected breakfast and lunch price increases at the district. The district currently projects lunch prices to increase at its elementary schools from $2.10 to $2.25; and at its secondary schools from $2.35 to $2.50. Breakfast prices would increase from $1 to $1.25 at the elementary and secondary schools.

But Sharon Profota, president of the Butler Area Food Service Employees Association, questioned whether the companies could live up to their proposals, which focused on artfully plated entrees as well as “grab-and-go” options.

“They’re showing you the best of the best,” she said. “This isn’t what the kids will actually get. I don’t see how they can actually do this in these buildings.”

An integral part of all three companies’ proposals is upgrading the food service facilities at the district’s elementary schools, where students now receive prepackaged meals.

All of the proposals would mean adding hot and cold food service stations at some or all of the elementary buildings — the thinking being that more students will participate if they have access to more options and fresher food.

“Every student builds their lunch their own way — and they actually eat more of the plate because of it,” said Pam Hardy, a business development representative for The Nutrition Group, which serves the Mars, South Butler and Freeport school districts.

The company’s proposal for Butler included revamping its high school food program to include more choices, upgrades at the elementary schools, and using programming and student surveys to tailor meal menus.

Those basic elements were contained in the plans presented by Aramark and Metz as well, though the companies’ proposals differed widely in cost estimates and revenue guarantees.

Aramark’s proposal forecast more than $1.1 million in food purchasing costs; Nutrition’s more than $1.2 million; and Metz’s proposal at just more than $1 million.

Aramark and Nutrition estimated that running the district’s food service program would cost a little more than $2.4 million; Metz forecast that the program would cost a little more than $2.2 million for the year.

On the revenue side, the companies also differed from each other with Metz guaranteeing a minimum $181,000 revenue payout to the district at the end of the school year. Aramark’s guarantee was $146,000; and Nutrition’s $30,000. However, those numbers could change based on contract negotiations with the district.

District officials have said they are exploring outsourcing food service because of lagging student participation and an in-house program that has lost nearly $700,000 since the 2008-09 school year.

The district typically has 46 percent of students buying lunch, with average daily lunch totals at more than 2,900 students and average daily breakfast totals around 700. The companies all said they were confident their plans would lead to increased student participation, and told board members that student participation at school districts they service ranges from 50 percent to 70 percent.

Only Aramark proposed cutting food service employees. Under one of the company’s proposals, nine positions could be eliminated.

The company said district officials could choose to disregard that portion of the Aramark’s proposal, but that if it accepted it, the eliminations would likely be done based on seniority.

For Profota, the concerns regarding employment for members of the union exist regardless of whether the company has explicitly recommended eliminating positions.

All three companies projected the district would save money — in the form of reduced PSERS contributions — by allowing them to take over employment of the district’s food service workers. But all would require employees to reapply for their jobs and two — Aramark and Metz — said they would have to undergo new background checks before they could be hired.

All three companies said any employees they ultimately hired would work the same hours and receive the same hourly rates they now get working for the district.

But they also acknowledged that some aspects of the workers’ employment would be determined through contract negotiations with the bargaining unit. The district’s 95 food service employees have been working under the terms of an expired contract since June of 2015.

“I’m afraid of what we could lose,” Profota said.

The district is negotiating a new deal with the union, and the bargaining unit must be given a chance to offer the district a counterproposal to the three presented Wednesday, district solicitor Tom King said.

Both King and board members declined to comment on the proposals Wednesday, citing those negotiations.

Deborah Brandstetter, the director of business services, said any food services contract with a company would have to be finalized by the end of June.