To be sure, the atmosphere was contentious on Wednesday night as two dozen members of our Council 760 Chapter representing the school district's cafeteria workers crowded the Board's small meeting room. In an article in The Chronicle that afternoon, we publicly announced out intention to deliver petition forms signed by more than a thousand area residents who stand with the schools' lunch ladies and oppose contracting-out their jobs to a low-bid, private food corporation.

Chapter President Debbie Dubord delivered a strong statement before she and several of her co-workers passed out the petition forms to the members of the Board.

Joining our members in denouncing the proposal to contract-out the schools' food services were several parents, other school district faculty, as well as current and former members of the Windham Board of Selectmen.

Meanwhile, the number of elected officials to sign the "Pledge to Oppose Outsourcing Windham Public Schools' Cafeteria Services" continues to grow. From Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal to Windham First Selectman Jean DeSmet, the tide against contracting-out the district's cafeteria services is rising.

In advance of the public forum, members are circulating a new leaflet to community residents encouraging them to call members of the Board of Education. We believe there are at least five school district officials who share our concerns about the risk to the health and safety of our schools' children by contracting-out, and who understand that dragging down workplace standards would only further worsen the town's economic outlook.

But they need to hear from the community they represent to ensure that they will vote NO if Chairman Ken Folan calls for action on the outsourcing proposal at Tuesday's forum.

At the same time, we are preparing to file a formal complaint with the Windham Ethics Board on Monday morning regarding the appearance of a conflict of interest involving Chairman Folan.

At issue is Mr. Folan's position as a salesman with U.S. Food Service, the nation's second largest distributor of food products and related supplies. The company's primary customers are vendors contracted by institutions, including hundreds of school districts in the Northeast. We are concerned that contracting-out Windham's food services is really about benefitting his employer, rather than his constituents.

If so, Mr. Folan's claim to the Chronicle that he and the Board of Education "have to take out emotion" and "look at the bottom line" in making a decision as risky as entrusting the schools' meal services to outsiders smacks of the worst kind of hypocrisy; putting corporate profits before students' well-being.

Add these questions about the Chairman's relationship to the decision the Board made during a closed-door session before Wednesday's meeting to select a "finalist" bidder if they were to contract-out the schools' food services. The company, Sodexo, Inc., is a French multi-national corporation with worldwide food service management operations that netted a half a billion dollars in profits last year.

Reversing their history of poor labor-relations in this country has been a priority of our International Union for more than five years.

Apparently the company was confident they would win the bidding war in Windham. Or did they post an announcement for the general manager position on several online job search engines because someone on the Board promised to deliver them the contract?

These questions add urgency to the need for teachers and other faculty, parents, and advocates of open, transparent government to attend Tuesday's public forum at Windham Middle School and urge the Board to reject outsourcing and save the district's lunch ladies.