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About a dozen students at King-Robinson got packages of expired string cheese for lunch.
During Monday’s first lunch wave at the Beaver Hills elementary school, those students opted to take string cheese as an alternative, district officials said in a statement.
The expired food might have made one child sick. A student showed up in the nurse’s office and reported not feeling well, officials said. After a check-up, the nurse sent the student back to class, but the student was later picked up early, they added.
“The District is continuing to investigate the matter,” Michael Pinto, the district’s chief operating officer, wrote in an email. “The New Haven Public Schools wants to reassure the Board and our families that the health and safety of our students and families is paramount.”
After finding out that they’d passed their expiration date, all lunch packages with the string cheese were removed, Pinto said.
Pinto added that the district contacted the State Department of Education for support. The agency will provide on-site training for Central Kitchen staff on “food safety, food allergens, and food production” and conduct a review of “processes and protocols” to recommend improvements.
“Food Service managers are reviewing procedures with staff to ensure all food service protocols are followed,” Pinto said.
At forums, parents routinely complain about expired food being served to kids, especially milk.
This latest incident comes just days after boxes of Nature Valley granola bars, which are made in a factory that also processes nuts, were included in students’ breakfast — in a potential health risk to students with allergies.
“The staff responsible for these events will and must be held accountable,” Superintendent Carol Birks said last week.
Nijija-Ife Waters, the president of the City-Wide Parent Team who’s routinely called for the district to do a better job with food safety, said she was “totally disgusted” by the recent incidents.
“I have never seen anything like this in the 14 years I have been a parent in this district,” Waters said in an email. “The time is now; parents need to be vocal and present. My fingers are crossed that we don’t lose a child in the process.”
Seriously, when does the incompetence and lack of leadership come to an end? The taxpayers are sick of paying huge salaries to 54 Meadow and they can't think their way out of a paper bag. They are not leaders, they don't know how to lead, all they know how to do is spend money, collect a check, and make errors.