A Highland Park school district that had its request-for-proposal process investigated after facing accusations of misconduct and threats of federal funding being withheld last year has refused to make the findings public.
North Shore School District 112 launched the investigation, conducted by law firm Franczek P.C., after an unusually forceful letter from the Illinois State Board of Education in August. In the letter, the ISBE rescinded its prior approval for the district’s food service management company contract with food vendor Quest, cutting off federal funding.
The letter was in response to a protest filed with the ISBE by OrganicLife — the longtime food vendor with the district that had been passed over for the contract — that alleged serious misconduct by the school district during the RFP process, including potential bribery.
ISBE’s letter repeated those allegations, calling out Northshore’s Assistant Superintendent for Business Services Jeremy Davis by name and ordering a one-year emergency contract with food vendor OrganicLife.
Despite voicing issues with the ISBE’s findings, the district chose to move ahead with the emergency contract last year, and Superintendent Michael Lubelfeld announced the launch of an “independent investigation into the request for proposal process with outside counsel.”
Earlier this year, after D112 announced it was conducting a new RFP for a food service vendor to replace the emergency contract, a district representative confirmed the investigation into its RFP process was complete and a report had been provided to the Board of Education.
But the findings — including any potential issues the investigation may have found — have not been publicly released, and district staff leadership and board members have repeatedly declined to provide more information.
A Freedom of Information Act request for the report was denied on the grounds that it contained communications from the district’s attorney for the purpose of providing legal advice, and was exempt from disclosure because it contained internal opinions and preliminary recommendations shared for the purpose of formulating policies or actions.
In response to questions intended for Lubelfeld regarding the investigation and lack of released information, the district provided limited responses, emphasizing it is focusing on the current RFP and that it is “moving forward.”
Davis also declined to comment. Questions intended for Board President Art Kessler were also answered by the district.
The ISBE has been similarly tight-lipped. A FOIA request sent to the ISBE and D112 pulled up extensive communications back and forth between the state board and the school district, as well as letters from attorneys representing D112, Davis and OrganicLife.
However, requests for comments, including about whether any legal action was being pursued against the school district, or Davis, or whether ISBE would retract previous statements — including accusations of misconduct — were declined.
According to a representative with OrganicLife, it was not contacted during D112’s internal investigation. Although OrganicLife said it is not pursuing any additional action against D112 or Davis, it stood by the issues laid out in its original protest.
“All the information contained within the protest is fact-based,” the representative said.
OrganicLife declined to comment on the current RFP process. In a statement, the representative said it remains “focused on what matters most, serving students nutritious, high-quality meals and partnering with school districts in a transparent and accountable way.”
“We believe food service contracts should always be awarded through a fair, competitive process that prioritizes value, quality and the needs of students,” the representative said. “OrganicLife welcomes transparency and independent evaluation because we are confident in the strength of our program, our culinary approach and the value we deliver to school communities every day. Ultimately, our goal is simple, to provide exceptional meals and service that students, parents and school districts can trust.”
OrganicLife’s original protest
In a document dated July 25, 2025, legal representatives with OrganicLife listed out the food service vendor’s allegations, among them accusing Davis of making undue changes to the RFP process, favoring Quest throughout the process, communicating with a Quest representative on his personal cell, and failing to report a bribe.
In a letter to OrganicLife on July 31, D112 legal representatives denied an initial protest filed with the school district by OrganicLife. The letter defended Davis’ involvement in the RFP process, pushing back on the allegations.
“While this letter is not intended to address claims that Mr. Davis may have in his personal capacity, the unfounded allegations and ever-increasing vitriol that OrganicLife continues to direct at Mr. Davis cannot go unaddressed,” the letter said.
It also included reference to an earlier communication in May that had contained “many vague and unsubstantiated allegations” against the district and “Mr. Davis personally.”
A few months later, weeks after the ISBE’s letter reprimanding the district, the Del Galdo Law Group, saying it was representing Davis, sent a letter to the ISBE criticizing the decision to rescind approval and levy allegations against Davis after having made “no inquiry” of Davis or providing him an opportunity to defend himself.
“The statements about Mr. Davis in ISBE’s letter perpetuate the spread of false information about Mr. Davis and ultimately will damage his reputation,” Del Galdo Law Group said. “With these allegations, Mr. Davis feels that he must respond and seek retraction.”
According to the Del Galdo letter, Davis actually began his career at the ISBE working as a grant monitor. He also previously served as director of business in Wheeling School District No. 221, chief school business official in O’Fallon Township High School District 203 and assistant superintendent in Crystal Lake School District 155.
The letter requested that the ISBE retract its accusations of misconduct against Davis, but it’s unclear whether any such action has been taken.
“The timeline of events shows that the person treated most unfairly in this process was Mr. Davis,” the letter said. “OrganicLife attacked Mr. Davis personally, sending four separate threatening communications related to the RFP before responses to the solicitation were even due.”
The letter also refuted accusations of a bribe, which were based on a text message a Quest representative had sent Davis. A screenshot of the exchange shows the Quest representative asking Davis if he was interested in going to a Cubs game.
“No, as I do not take tickets from vendors. But thanks for the offer,” Davis responded.
The screenshot indicates the representative gave Davis’ response a thumbs-up.
The district would not say if Davis has faced any disciplinary action related to the allegations, and a FOIA request for any records of disciplinary action between 2020 and today did not pull up any responsive records.
The district said it wasn’t aware of any additional action being taken against D112. In regard to the RFP review, the district said it did not “have anything additional to share beyond what we have previously stated.”
Davis is reportedly not part of the RFP committee and is not involved in this year’s RFP process. That’s a change from last year. Davis had seemingly previously been a key figure, based on documents from D112 that listed him as the primary contact point for questions relating to the RFP and contract, as well as the issuer of the RFP.
The district is using the ISBE food service management company request for proposal template and working with legal counsel throughout the process, a district statement said, with vendor communications routed through a single email address for review by the entire committee.
Phone calls and one-off emails are “not part of the process,” and the district is evaluating proposals “using the published criteria and what vendors submit in writing, including food safety documentation, USDA nutrition requirements, service capacity, and references. This approach maintains consistency across all respondents and creates a clear audit trail.”
