Several parents of North Lamar ISD students say their children were served moldy, outdated food and have taken to social media to complain.
Tosha Dickerson, whose children attend Stone Middle School, shared a photo of a moldy hamburger bun on Friday to her Facebook page.
“I don’t know if it’s just the lunch preparers that don’t care orrrrr (sic) what but this is unacceptable! Isaac got sent home yesterday because he was throwing up and Jr has been sent home before and it’s ALWAYS after lunch,” said Dickerson in the post.
Since her post on social media, Dickerson said dozens of parents commented publicly and others have reached out to her privately with their experiences.
“One lady said her granddaughter got a moldy hamburger bun also and that she often gets sick from eating at the school,” said Dickerson. “Others told me their kids said the food was often cold and many times the milk was out of date. They had experienced being served moldy bread also and chicken and burger meat, was undercooked.”
Dickerson has since spoken with the director of food service at North Lamar who informed her she was going to “make adjustments to the menu as well as train her staff for next year.”
“I was assured that every bun was being checked before being served and that my daughter just happened to get the only molded bun,” said Dickerson. “She said that every bun was checked because when she first opened them, their was a molded bun so she went through them and threw away the bad buns.”
However, Dickerson is now questioning why the entire package wasn’t thrown away if a molded bun was found.
This isn’t the first time Dickerson has taken to social media about school lunches, sharing a photo her daughter took of a chicken sandwich and sweet potatoes.
“It was just a piece of chicken on a bun — that’s it. I spoke to the nutrition director about this also and she said that because my daughter was last in line, she just got what was leftover. There were dozens of comments on my post questioning what it was and that no wonder their kids take lunch to school,” said Dickerson.
While Dickerson said she wants to give the school the “benefit of doubt” after discussing her concerns, she is saddened for kids who aren’t able to take their lunches.
“For some kids, this is the only meal they might get, so I’m saddened that this is what they are serving them. Parents are afraid to speak out and I understand but I am not. I just want better for our kids.”
