Parents concerned about school lunches

Published 10:16 am Thursday, September 25, 2014

COAL GROVE — Some parents of students at Dawson-Bryant High School are upset about the lunches being served.

Larry Large, whose son is a junior at Dawson-Bryant, on Sept. 10 posted two photos of his son’s lunches on Facebook with an accompanying status asking if anyone else’s children were complaining.

Total there were 72 comments on the post, many of which were from like-minded parents who commented that their children come home hungry every day and one student buys food and keeps it in his car.

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“I talked to the superintendent and he said he planned to meet with the food service director,” Large said. “Really there is nothing the school can do. I have started ordering my son’s lunch every day because I’m tired of dealing with it.”

Large said his son plays sports and by the time he gets home he is hungry.

“He’s 17 and growing like a weed,” Large said. “I’m sure it’s a money thing and I don’t know what the answer is. What I do know is six mini corn dogs and some apple sauce isn’t cutting it.”

Dawson-Bryant Superintendent Steve Easterling said the district is bound by federal guidelines and there’s not a lot of leeway in what is served.

“I have called the United States Department of Agriculture and put in a call to Columbus to see if there’s anything we can do,” he said. “We can get out of the federal program but we can’t afford it. Our free and reduced lunch rates are set by those guidelines.”

Easterling has also contacted legislators about the lunches and said he has spoken with other superintendents who are dealing with the same issue.

“I’m looking into it every way I possibly can,” he said.