It starts with a swipe and ends with a drink. This is the usual case for vending machine users. But for senior Rusty Taylor, it started with a swipe and ended with getting charged with no drink in return. He knew the machines were cheap, broken and old, but when the vending machines went missing, he did not know if they were being fixed or if they were gone forever.
During the week of Oct. 7, all the vending machines were taken off of campus and have not yet been replaced. Because of a change to a countywide contract, the new machines will be selling Pepsi products and will be spread throughout campus, including new locations by the softball, baseball and football fields.
The main reason the vending machines are being replaced is because the school’s old contract expired and the county is taking over the new contract system. Every school in the past set up their own vending services, but Seminole County Schools decided to negotiate for a single contract that will better support income for all schools, according to Dean Roy DeCosta. Hagerty will be one of the last schools joining this contract system provided by the district.
Other than having an expired contract, most of the old machines were broken so it seemed time was up.
“It will definitely be better, especially if they are new, not broken and will actually do what they are supposed to do,” senior Rusty Taylor said.
Admin does not know if Hagerty will be getting any food machines back, but they are working to make this happen. According to state law, there cannot be any food on campus that directly competes with the school food services, which limits where and when food vending machines can be used. The Pepsi machines should be on campus some time this week.