BROOKFIELD — When Joseph Pasquerilla argued that Dean’s Dairy Products Co. should get Brookfield Local School District’s milk contract, he had not seen the bids tendered by Dean’s and Turner Dairy Farms Inc.

Now that he has obtained the milk bids and the district’s beverage consumption rates, he can make a financial argument in favor of Dean’s. Pasquerilla said he will make a motion at the next meeting to rescind the milk contract awarded June 18 by the school board to Turner.

He said he has no idea if any other board members will support him, and it is not clear if the board can rescind the awarding.

Board President Tim Filipovich said he has received the bids and called the differences between them “negligible.”

“I’m not going to be a party to bring it forward,” he said, but added that, if enough board members want to make a change, or if Superintendent Stephen A. Stohla changes his recommendation, he’ll be open to discussion.

The board awarded the contract to Turner, of Penn Hills, Pa., based on the recommendation of Stohla, Treasurer David Drawl and Cafeteria Supervisor Donna Hailey.

Stohla, who is leaving the district, said he did not look at the bids closely, only for the most consumed items, and saw that Dean’s of South Pymatuning Township had better prices on white and chocolate and Turner had better prices on strawberry and vanilla milk. Stohla said he did not have exact consumption figures before the meeting.

At the board meeting, Stohla told the board Turner had better prices on strawberry and chocolate milk, and that more of those varieties are sold than white milk.

“The superintendent clearly made a mistake,” Pasquerilla said.

The district sells more half pints of 1-percent chocolate milk than anything else, 109,450 of the 180,655 milk, juice and yogurt units sold in the past year.

Two-percent white milk is the next biggest seller, 33,377 units, followed by 1-percent strawberry milk, 11,591 units, and 1-percent vanilla milk, 8,359 units, all half pints.

The bids on those items came in this way:

ä Chocolate — Dean’s, 18.3 cents; Turner, 21 cents.

ä White — Dean’s, 17.8 cents; Turner, 20è cents.

ä Strawberry — Turner, 21 cents; Deans, 23.3 cents.

ä Vanilla — Turner, 21 cents; Dean’s, 22.1 cents.

The prices can change throughout the contract with 30 days’ notice, and Turner presented different, generally higher, bids for Brookfield Elementary School because, the company said, that school is in Pennsylvania and is subject to different regulatory standards.

Stohla said he recommended Turner based on the recommendations of Drawl and Ms. Hailey, and did not know why Drawl and Ms. Hailey favored Turner.

Pasquerilla argued at the board meeting that Dean’s should get the bid because it is a local company, its products are sold widely in Brookfield, Brookfield residents work for the company, and a majority of local Ohio and Pennsylvania schools contract with the company.

Now that he has the bids, Pasquerilla said the district would save about $4,000 on the four primary milk items if Dean’s would get the contract.

“Every $4,000 or $5,000 is important,” Pasquerilla said.

The district needs to make every penny its spends count in light of the economic situation and cuts in state services, he said.

“I don’t have any stock in Dean’s,” Pasquerilla said. “I get nothing from Dean’s. I don’t really need another fight.”

Filipovich, who had not talked to any other members about the milk bids, said he still accepts the recommendations of the staff members.

“When we pay these people thousands of dollars, we have to trust them to do their jobs,” he said.

He said he sees the board members as policy makers and overseers. When it comes to cafeteria issues, “I don’t know enough about the stuff,” Filipovich said.

“My role as a board member, I have to go upon the recommendation of the people who are doing the work,” he said.

Stohla said additional information has been sent to the school board members, and he will abide by any board decision. He said he does not know if the board can rescind the motion.

“If that’s what they want to do, I’ll contact a lawyer and see if we can,” Stohla said.

When asked why the board members did not receive copies of the bids prior to the June 18 meeting, Stohla replied, “I can’t tell you.”

Pasquerilla said the board members usually have copies of bids before they are asked to award contracts.

Stohla said he doesn’t expect the board members will want to make a decision before the July meeting.

The board meets Monday for a year-end close-out meeting, but Stohla said he sent out the milk information Friday and would not expect all board members to have received it by Monday.

He added that the board has time to sort out what it wants to do, because the contract doesn’t start until school is back in session.

The issue might carry over to new superintendent Timothy E. Saxton, who takes over Aug. 1, Stohla said.

Pasquerilla provided the bids and consumption figures to The Herald Saturday.

The Herald asked Drawl for the bids Wednesday and he said he would fax them over, but the bids were not received.