For hungry kids, teachers chip in for takeout
By Katy Murphy
Friday, May 7th, 2010 at 6:23 pm in elementary schools, health, preschool, students, teachers.
We all know how common it is for teachers to dip into their own bank accounts to buy classroom supplies. How about buying takeout for kids when the school lunch isn’t served?
A group of Tilden Elementary School teachers wrote to tell me about a memo they received this morning (dated yesterday) from their principal, informing them that “as of today,” lunch would not be served to the preschoolers.
It turns out that the newly enforced lunch policy, which came from the district (via state guidelines), is only supposed to apply to preschool children whose program lasts less than two hours. But some of the children in Tilden’s Pre-K program are there for five hours, so today — amid the confusion and apparent lack of notice – the teachers chipped in for a pizza.
Here’s the memo:
To: Pre-K Teachers
From: Rachelle Sallee’
Date: May 6, 2010
Re: Pre-K TeacherThis is to inform you that Pre-K classes will not be served lunch as of today. More information about this matter will be given to you at a later time.
Thank you.
The teachers were concerned, especially since some of the children’s families had paid for their lunches through the end of the year and others qualify for a free lunch. (They will be reimbursed, according to district spokesman Troy Flint.) They wrote:
To top it off, after releasing this memo that our young students wouldn’t get to eat, a group of district administrators meeting on Tilden’s campus had their catered lunch delivered. There seems to be some obvious discrepancies in logic here. The teachers did not let our students go hungry and banded together to order pizza (with our own money) but this situation will not be solved with take-out.
The children in the five-hour program will have lunch — but probably no pizza — on Monday. The district’s food services director plans to inform preschool parents about the change and the reasons behind it then, Flint said.
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May 7th, 2010 at 7:09 pm
Katy — you bring up a good point even though your story is about what sounds like a misunderstanding. I know a number of teachers in various schools who bring food to school for some of their students in addition to the supplies they pay for out of pocket. Even in those “hills schools” everyone thinks are Eden-like. I wonder how widespread this issue really is….
May 7th, 2010 at 8:54 pm
Jill- You’re saying that it’s all right for teachers to HAVE to BUY their students lunch?
The parents had already paid for the lunches!!!!!!!!! The district should have given at least a month’s notice. There is no way all the parents would have gotten that notice in time. My third grade students need snack in order to do well during the day. We’re talking about 3 YEAR OLDS!!!
I’ll be interested
May 7th, 2010 at 8:56 pm
oops…
I’ll be interested to hear what Tony Smith says is the reason.
May 7th, 2010 at 10:40 pm
The administrators had catered food the day they cut the food for the kids? Where is J.R.?
The fat cats eat while the children get hungry stomachs? say it ain’t so?
May 7th, 2010 at 11:01 pm
I should have mentioned that all of the kids will still get a snack — just not lunch like they used to (unless they’re part of the 5-hour program).
May 8th, 2010 at 12:09 am
8:30-1:30 —- This is 5 hours, and is considered a minimum day for most elementary schools in Oakland. Students still get lunch on minimum days.
Am I missing something?
May 8th, 2010 at 1:13 am
It is May, 6 weeks before the schoolyear ends. They couldn’t wait to implement this until next schoolyear?????????
Also, why were they given notice on the day itself only? The least they could do was properly inform families ahead of time.
Oh, and by the way, the affected students at Tilden are not only preschoolers. They also all happen to be children with special needs.
Way to go OUSD for showing how you look out for the youngest and most vulnerable students in your care.
May 8th, 2010 at 7:31 am
These are not just any your typical pre-k students all of these students are children with special needs. Most have Autism. Aren’t these children deserving of special care and attention by OUSD?Shame on them.I hope the district administrators enjoyed their lunch. That principal needs to resign.
May 8th, 2010 at 8:07 am
Katy, the 3 and 4 year olds did not receive a snack on Thursday. As a father of a toddler with special needs at Tilden, I’m livid to say the least.
Rachele Sallee could not be bothered to send out a memo on Thursday. Our teachers quickly sent one out but only in English. Our non English speaking parents did not receive one. Sadly, OUSD’s off site Admins are no more effective than Rachelle Sallee. They could not be bothered on Friday to address the situation. Our lovely teachers and the Tilden PTA are the ones who stepped up to the plate and made sure that our toddlers had lunch on Friday. How sad.
May 8th, 2010 at 8:49 am
No doubt the union that these Administrators are members of, will protect them.
Where is the OUSD Public Relations team at?
… i actually got my (strike day) absence form that day too! OUSD made lots of money off of Teachers and Students this week…
May 8th, 2010 at 8:53 am
Said principal could still not be bothered to send out a note on Friday, the second day.
Notes (from the teachers) in Spanish were actually sent out as well, but perhaps in all the confusion some families did not get them.
May 8th, 2010 at 9:12 am
Oh, and this is ironic (on OUSD’s website).
“Show Your Love for the Person Who Makes Your Lunch!
May 3 through May 7 is OUSD’s Child Nutrition Employee Appreciation Week. Showing how much you appreciate the Nutrition Services workers at your school can be as simple as saying thank you or as extravagant as holding a reception to recognize their hard work. How will you show your favorite school food service professionals you think they’re number one?”
May 8th, 2010 at 10:07 am
I found that statement hilarious.
——————————————-
NOTE: I respect the cafeteria workers at my school greatly. They are organized and get the kids lunch proficiently.
——————————————-
However: School lunches ARE NOT healthy or nutritious! They are greasy and fatty. Everything is processed and soiled.
May 8th, 2010 at 10:43 am
Actually the principal was informed the morning of the no lunch day that there wouldn’t be lunch. The cafeteria told her that morning. This is FOOD and NUTRITIONAL SERVICES doing and besides the pizza was probably better than the food they do serve. The K-2 got rice and beans on Thursday and the chocolate milk they serve has 27 grams of sugar. I think we need to start to look at FOOD and NUTRITIONAL SERVICES, or nutrition there lack of. Maybe we need Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution?
May 8th, 2010 at 10:56 am
I’m confused. The policy change is only supposed to affect preschool kids who are in school for LESS than 2 hours, but all the preschool programs at Tilden are at least 2 1/2 hours. This shouldn’t apply to any of the kids at Tilden. I for one think even a “snack” isn’t enough for a 3 year old who has to be in school from 11 to 1:30 (and might be on the bus for up to an hour each way to and from school).
Not to mention that the majority of the kids affected by this qualify for free and reduced lunch. (And they qualify for a reason–have you seen how little a family has to make to qualify?) Many school districts even operate a summer nutrition program so that hungry kids can get a meal even when they’re not in school at all.
I just can’t understand how a principal could send out a last-minute notice to teachers, then attend a catered meeting and ignore the whole situation while kids on her campus went hungry. What a slap in the face to the Tilden community. Why did it fall on the teachers and the PTO to make sure the kids had something to eat? I would expect a principal to at least show a little concern for the well-being of students at her school.
May 8th, 2010 at 11:13 am
In addition to the pre-K getting no lunch, the kindergarten, first and second grade general ed students had no choice for lunch but a small serving of rice and beans, (which usually is a side dish), lettuce, no salad dressing, carrots, piece of fruit, and milk. No juice for those with allergies. There were 5 burritos to serve 40 students.
Administrators were made aware of the situation, they could have offered their catered lunch, and ordered pizza in for themselves. As a district with no money to pay teachers, and provide supplies to our school, why is it that administrators are eating catered lunches? Why not brown bagged it, like teachers do each day?
Everyday children come to school that don’t get any breakfast at home, some have little to eat at home at night. As a title 1 school, many students are depending on the food they receive at school.
May 8th, 2010 at 11:24 am
So, essentially, the principal informed the teachers by memo 2 hours in advance that 40 3 year olds with autism (a disability characterized by difficulty in dealing with sudden change, which typically results in significant behavior problems at the early childhood level) would no longer be able to eat at school. Then merrily locked herself up with other administrators to move papers around and enjoy catered lunch.
Teaching special education in Oakland Unified: you just can’t make most of this s@it up.
May 8th, 2010 at 11:30 am
Oh, and another ironic PS about “Child Nutrition Employee Week” is that this week is nationally recognized as TEACHER appreciation week. Meaning that, while most other districts in the country and even a burrito chain are recognizing educators for their hard work and dedication, Oakland is…um, engaging in slightly different practices regarding teachers, cafeterias, and food.
May 8th, 2010 at 11:37 am
Teachers are grading papers and making lesson plans on this weekend … what are the (highly paid) OUSD Public Relations and Administrators team doing??
May 8th, 2010 at 12:11 pm
Eating catered lunches?
May 8th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
To all teachers, if this was happening to you… receiving a catered gourmet lunch, and you knew the children at the very site where you were having your meeting, were not getting any food or very substandard food, would you eat, or give your food to the children,?
I know what I would have done, given it to the children, that is what most teachers would have done.
I think the district needs to apologize to the students and their parents that they serve, instead of serving themselves. this needs to be broadcast on the TV networks. disgusting.
May 8th, 2010 at 3:20 pm
This is not the first time this so called school leader and educator has shown how little she cares for her special education students. Last year the pre-k teachers had prepared for a graduation ceremony for their pre-k SPECIAL NEEDS students only to be told AGAIN AT THE LAST MINUTE (the day of the ceremony) by RACHELLE SALLE that the pre-k could not have their graduation celebration because the 3rd graders were. DOES SHE JUST NOT CARE FOR HER SPECIAL EDUCATION CHILDREN. If Dr. Smith does not step in and get to the bottom of what the hell is going on at Tilden then that is just adding insult to injury.The families deserve answers.
May 8th, 2010 at 4:17 pm
This principal needs to be kicked in the backside, and then kicked to the curb, immediately! This is unacceptable in any way shape or form.
May 8th, 2010 at 5:25 pm
This is unbelievable, even if it was a directive from ‘upper management’ how could a principal allow ANY student in her school to go without a meal….ridiculous.
May 8th, 2010 at 7:57 pm
even the most incompetent administrators that I’ve had (and there have been plenty) stepped up when kids didn’t have food for any reason at all. one day all the hot dogs were literally green. The principal ordered fried chicken. No one who works with children should let children go hungry. Much less young children and special ed kids.
May 8th, 2010 at 9:13 pm
It saddens me to read this…………so advanced in our times, yet HUMAN NATURE is still stuck in time.
KARMA, KARMA, KARMA………………..
One day the earth will turn and they will feel the pain.
May 9th, 2010 at 12:05 am
I’m surprised you horrible teachers didn’t get written up by your principal for putting your students health at risk by serving them unhealthy pizza. We received a notice at our school that teachers were not allowed to give students food, particularly pizza, and one of our teachers was given a harsh disciplinary letter of concern for handing out homemade cupcakes. Welcome to Oakland USD where up is down and as someone on this board once told me….no good deed goes unpunished.
May 9th, 2010 at 9:23 am
As a former OUSD teacher, I am saddened and frustrated to read this. But unfortunately, I am not surprised. I have no doubt that if this circumstance were to occur in my current school, the leadership would drop everything, dig into their pockets, and provide lunch for both the little ones AND possibly the teachers. Unfortunately, Ms. Sallee passively relayed a thoughtless memo without showing any ounce of caring for some of the youngest, most vulnerable students that Oakland serves. I thought principals went into leadership because they CARED about students and they BELIEVED that ALL kids (regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, socio-economic class, or disability) had an equal right to a fair education. Apparently, Ms. Sallee has a different understanding of what school leadership means.
I applaud the teachers for providing the children with lunch out of their own money. Perhaps Ms. Sallee should reimburse them with interest? I can only hope that someone from the district offices will see the true injustice of this situation and quickly solve the problem. The children of Oakland deserve it.
May 9th, 2010 at 10:19 am
I work at another OUSD school which serves about 25 special education preschoolers. Although the principal at Tilden made a huge public relations blunder by sending out that memo on the day lunch for preschoolers was suspended, the experience at our site suggests that the problem really lies with Nutritional Services and their lack of a system for ensuring that preschoolers receive the free or reduced lunch to which they are entitled.
At our school, when parents register their preschool students, they are given a lunch application as part of the registration packet. Most parents fill it out on the spot and give it to the secretary who forwards it to Nutritional Services for processing.
Unfortunately, according to Nutritional Services, the system cannot process those applications because the preschool students are not registered in Aeries, the online registration and attendance system used in OUSD. So, despite multiple submissions of applications and hand delivery of those applications by teachers and parents to Nutritional Services, most of our preschoolers have not received a “number” that states whether or not they qualify for lunch subsidies. The few preschoolers who have received a number have had their applications hand processed by the Nutritional Services department. Why the other preschoolers have not had their application hand processed as well has not been explained to me.
We know many of the preschool students should qualify for subsidized lunch because their elementary aged siblings do, but, because of this administrative processing problem, parents must pay for the lunch of their preschoolers or send it from home each day. In reality, the principal and lunch person at our site make sure that no child goes hungry even if it means going against the Nutritional Services rules. No child has even been denied a lunch at our site. My understanding is that our lunch room runs at a loss on a regular basis precisely because preschool students are being given lunches even though the system has not processed their applications.
Another problem is that Nutritional Services refuses to send out letters to preschool parents advising them of their lunch status. The Nutritional Services supervisors tell their on-site staff or the teachers or the principal to do that. This seems to be an abrogation of the responsibility of the administrators within the Nutritional Services department. They are the ones who have the data about income and eligibility and who make the determination about who gets a free or reduced lunch or who must pay at the school sites.
My understanding is that the principal at our site and the principal at Tilden have, in the past, brought this problem to the attention of the Central Administration. Why the problem has not been addressed prior to becoming such an unseemly public relations fiasco is hard to understand. It seems that this problem could have been avoided if the OUSD administration had figured out a way to process the lunch applications of preschool students. They have been advised of this problem since September of 2009. As it stands now, school sites must make a decision to either deny lunch to preschoolers or give it to them and suffer the financial loss.
May 9th, 2010 at 3:46 pm
I’d like to offer a few points in response to the change in OUSD meal policy, the problem it created at Tilden and the discussion that ensued.
The first and most important point is that the episode in which students at Tilden did not receive a snack or a meal and teachers had to compensate by purchasing food is inexcusable. Although it resulted from confusion and not ill intent, it’s unacceptable and will not happen again.
We apologize to the students, parents, caregivers and staff at Tilden for this grave error. We’d also like to thank the teachers who, characteristically, sacrificed for the benefit of the students. Recognizing that this provides little, if any consolation, I would encourage those who provided the food to let me know the expense involved so I can reimburse them.
Secondly, I want you to know that Nutrition Services is reviewing the notification policy used to inform the community of policy changes such as this and making the appropriate adjustments to ensure that a repeat of this week’s incident does not occur again.
Thirdly, I’d like to announce that in recognition of the poor notification surrounding the new OUSD lunch policy, the change instituted last week has been waived temporarily. The new policy will take effect for the 2010-11 school year and the conventional policy will now remain in place for the remainder of this school year.
Finally, I’d like to share some context that, due to space constraints, didn’t make it into Katy’s story in its entirety. I think this information may help explain why the initial decision was made regarding the meal (although not the failure to notify appropriately). Specifically, when the policy changes take effect next year:
* No student at Tilden or elsewhere will be deprived of a meal. All students will be fed although some students who formerly received a complete meal will now receive a snack instead. This is not an arbitrary decision but one made for compliance reasons. Specifically, regulations state that for all students whose instructional day is under four hours in length (not two as originally indicated), a snack should be served instead of a full meal. Nutrition Services believes a well-chosen snack will provide sufficient sustenance and nutrition for those students who are at the school for an hour-and-a-half of instruction.
* Nutrition Services is enforcing the rule at this time because it does not want to encroach on the general fund due to a compliance failure. Tilden has Pre-K classes which are affected by this rule and Nutrition Services has been working to bring these classes into compliance since September 2009, which makes it all the more frustrating that the change was not properly communicated.
* Those students at Tilden and elsewhere who have an instructional day longer than four hours will continue to receive a comprehensive meal as is customary.
* Nutrition Services is not collecting any money for snacks and will reimburse affected parents who paid for a lunch their students did not receive.
* A memo expanding on these points will be sent home on Monday afternoon.
In the meantime, let me close by reiterating our apologies and our pledge to avoid a recurrence of last week’s events.
Thank You,
Troy
May 9th, 2010 at 5:04 pm
Troy,
As a parent at Tilden I am happy to hear that the district has come to it’s senses. However, as a parent of pre-k student at Tilden I must insist that Rachelle Salle resign or be put on administrative leave.
A principal who would callously step into a principal’s meeting with her NEXO Sharon Casaneros and NOT mention that the student’s that she is entrust to care for are not getting lunch and then proceed to eat without regard for her 3-5 year students, babies really has broken every parent’s trust. It is a slap in the face to the Tilden parent’s that she remain as our entrust leader.
I believe had she informed the administrators attending the meeting had what was going on they would have given up their lunch, gladly. I am sure it would have more then enough to feed the kids.
Imagine for a moment JUST for a moment how precious the media moment would have been. You can not buy better publicity.
I am asking all parent’s that attend Tilden that if Rachelle Salle is not put on administrative leave or if does not have the decency to resign we, pull our kids out for one day. The choice is yours OUSD !!!!
A
May 9th, 2010 at 7:01 pm
Will the District pledge to suspend catered lunches for administrators in this time of financial austerity? Will the District also pledge to reimburse teachers before the end of the school year? Most teachers give up on getting reimbursements. The Board and Superintendent Smith should be glad that teachers at Tilden are still willing to go above and beyond the responsibilities outlined in our new imposed contract.
May 9th, 2010 at 7:20 pm
After losing a days salary (striking an imposed contract), these Teachers put the children first!
I am very proud of the Teachers at Tilden Elementary!
May 9th, 2010 at 9:33 pm
Isn’t this the same principal who received so much negative press last year? I seem to remember the parents and teachers were trying to have her removed.
It is sure nice to hear people acknowledging the Tilden teachers! They are a talented and devoted bunch, working with some of our most fragile students. I know that the teachers at my site would do the same for our students, but fortunately have not had to face this particular problem.
May 9th, 2010 at 10:10 pm
I work in Student Nutrition in another district.
Mr. Flint, I challenge your claim that OUSD would be out of compliance if students were served a meal when they were entitled to only snacks. I agree that the NSLP would not reimburse OUSD for the meal, but that’s not the same as being out of compliance (which could subject the district to a potentially severe financial penalty, withholding of reimbursements for low-income students’ meals).
It would not be a violation (aka “compliance failure”) to serve students food that wasn’t reimbursable; rather, the meal wouldn’t be reimbursed and OUSD would have to pick up the tab for it.
The rest of the response seems sincere and well-thought-out, but that part is misinformation.
May 10th, 2010 at 12:17 am
I have questions:
1. Is ther evidence that the principal did nothing to help students?
2. When teachers are in a full day training they are provided food. Is the blog stating that principals that work equaly as hard as teachers deserve less?
3. Don’t Oakland principal’s make substatially less than principals in neighboring districts?
4. Given the fact that the principal was informed by foor services thath morning, is the blog asserting that the memo should net have been sent out that morning to teachers?
Unfortunately, allot of assumptions have been made and the principal is being defamed. In our OEA contract their is a article that states that teachers can not be subject to public criticism. To bad we are not extending the same to teachers. Yes it is horrible that children may have gone without food. But tearing down the principal will not help this situation. If people are really concerned that should be contacting food services. I expect more from this blog and hope that the character assasination ends.
May 10th, 2010 at 12:27 am
1. Is there evidence that the principal did nothing to help students?
2. When teachers are in training they are provided food. Parents are provided food at ELAC and SSC. Is the blog stating that principals that work equally as hard as teachers deserve less?
3. Don’t Oakland principal’s make substantially less than principals in neighboring districts?
4. Given the fact that the principal was informed by food services that morning, is the blog asserting that the memo should not have been sent out to teachers?
Unfortunately, allot of assumptions have been made and the principal is being defamed. In our OEA contract there is an article that states that teachers can not be subject to public criticism. To bad we are not extending the same to principals. Yes, it is horrible that children may have gone with out food. But tearing down the principal will not help this situation.
If people are really concerned they should be contacting food services. I expect more from this blog and hope that the character assassination ends.
United we stand devided we fall and the children suffer the consequinces
May 10th, 2010 at 6:09 am
Dear Educate The Future,
Please allow me to point out a few things to you.
1. Yes, there is evidence that the principal tried to work with the food and service department. She sent the food and service e-mail on September 24, 2009. This was a good starting point. This was the first opportunity the principal had to start informing her families that there was a problem and at if it was not corrected because of an issue with the Aeries system they may need to prepare to bring lunch for their kids. This could have easily been done in the countless news letters the principal sent out between September and May. STRIKE ONE!
2.In these hard economic times both teachers and principals should brown bag it! Ask the teacher which would they rather have catered lunch or a raise.
3.I have no doubt that OUSD principals get paid substantially less then their counter parts elsewhere but that is not a good reason to put out a memo and then go into a principal’s meeting and enjoy her catered lunch. STRIKE TWO !
4. Yes, the principal should have put the memo. BUT any other reasonable,caring,logical human being would have walked into the meeting and said “I need to excuse myself while I figure out WHAT MY 3-5 YEAR OLD SPECIAL EDUCATION STUDENTS ARE GOING TO EAT!” How long does it take to order pizza anyways. Could she not have asked her administrative staff to do if for her and then gone in the meeting. STRIKE THREE !!!!!
Dear Educate the Future you state that “Yes, it is horrible that children MAY HAVE gone with out food.”
Is this a joke? They would have had the teachers not taken action! No maybes about it.
4A.Passing the buck to the food and service department for a principal not acting in the best interest of the children she is entrusted with is no excuse. It is clear that there is a problem with the Aeries system. Which I hope Dr. Smith will look into and fix before next year.When I called Tilden the day of the incident I was given the phone number to the food and service department by the secretary. In fact I was put on hold because she was giving it to other parent’s that where calling in. I did call them. I was informed by the food and service department that they had tried to reach the principal on several occasions through out the entire year to help resolve the issue of lunches V snacks. The principal was more often then not unavailable. I also found out that it takes US$2.25 a day to feed the kids. Could not the principal informed her families in September, October, November,December….. At any of her many monthly events that she needed help the a mere US$2.25 per student would help ensure that she could feed her kids. NO! Her answer was to pressure the new cafeteria staff ( which by the way started in September) to order more food to cover all her students. An ill attempt at resolving the matter. Regardless, any well intentioned effort to resolve the matter was completely over shadowed by the events that took place on May 6th. STRIKE FOUR!
4B In response to “United we stand devided we fall and the children suffer the consequinces” I say to you yes the children are suffering and so are there parent’s. We are heartbroken that the person who we entrust our children to be their protector while we cannot be, would care not little for them. Rachelle Salle’s attempts at addressing the situation early on are sadly overshadowed by her actions on May 6th.
It is the same as a parent not feeding her child lunch while she goes out to get theirs. Shame on her.
I do not know if you are keeping score but if this were a game of baseball ….. YOU WOULD BE OUT!
A
May 10th, 2010 at 7:02 am
NO, teachers do NOT get lunch when attending all day PD’s. We don’t get coffee or water either. We brown bag it, like we do every day. Those many of us who suffered through the endless Swun Math trainings this summer and school year can attest to that, pretty ironic considering how much money their consultants’ contract was worth. Frankly, I was glad that further money was not wasted by buying lunches for teachers; I assume their consultants fees would have been even higher!
I would say no to having teacher events catered. It is a ridiculous expense. We are capable of getting ourselves fed; the children are not.
May 10th, 2010 at 7:17 am
Mr. Flint,
Will the lunch applications for PreK students attending for five hours daily be processed? The PreK students in my class who attend or five hours daily have not have their applications processed despite hand delivery of applications, parents going down to Nutrition Services in person, and calls from the principal. They continue to receive a free lunch but that lunch cannot be reimbursed because the applications have not been processed. Isn’t this costing the school site money?
May 10th, 2010 at 7:21 am
Stepping up to say the same as Oakland Teacher–if we’re still up to bat on this one, strike five would be the reality that, as of two years ago, all food, coffee, and water services have been curtailed for all staff development NOT involving principals. At the last summer training I attended, held on a school campus, there were teachers trying to supplement their salaries by cooking on hot plates and selling to their colleagues. However, at the last school year colloquium I attended, held at an outside agency and attended by Leadership teams from select schools, there was quite a lavish little catered spread.
May 10th, 2010 at 7:28 am
Educate the Future—
1. Allowing the children to go without food isn’t evidence enough?? Or failing to send home notices to parents who could have at least sent lunch for their children the following day? Who knows, she may have made a perfunctory call to Nutrition Services at the end of the day when she started hearing from angry parents. But when it counted (at lunch time) she didn’t step up to the plate.—and not just once, but two days in a row!
2. Actually, this is not always true. At my school, teachers are often asked to bring their own lunches. Not to mention that you seem to be missing the main point, which is that the principal was too busy enjoying her own catered lunch to do anything to ensure that the 3-5 year olds had theirs.
3. I don’t see how this is relevant. But if you’re going to make an income comparison, principals make significantly more than teachers, who were the ones that ended up buying lunch. Oakland teachers, by the way, are the lowest paid in Alameda county and some of the lowest in the state…if they could afford to purchase lunch, surely the principal could have come up with something, especially since she has access to the school’s budget.
4. Ha—I don’t think anyone was suggesting that the problem was that the principal gave too much information or acted too quickly.
Oh, and I find it ironic that you mention the OEA contract’s stipulation about public criticism. I have a friend who works at Tilden and from what she’s told me, the principal violates this article time and time again. I agree that it’s sad to see anyone criticized in such a public way, but I also can’t blame the Oakland community for being outraged that someone in a leadership position would allow this to happen. Perhaps the Tilden community would speak more respectfully about her if she showed even a small amount of respect for the children, families, and staff in her charge. I hope she can at least learn a lesson from this situation—you get what you give (and honestly, in her case, I think she’s getting a lot more respect than she’s earned). Most of all I hope she won’t respond by making things worse for the teachers, or trying to blame others—she (and her bosses) should be grateful that the teachers at her school have put up with this kind of treatment for so long. The kids at Tilden are lucky to have such caring teachers.
May 10th, 2010 at 10:02 am
i think this is really wrong for the principle for doing this cause right now we are having budget cuts but that doesn’t mean we have to starve the kids.My aunt told me about this and as a 13 year old id be willing to give up my lunch just for the kids its just sad to see this happening right now, the principle should be fired shes gone to far for this respect of her to go out of control of her ways. i feel so bad for the kids i hate to see this right now.
May 10th, 2010 at 12:03 pm
As a grandparent of a special needs child (or that matter any child)I was outraged to hear that while the students most of them special needs were not being served lunch the principal was enjoying a catered lunch. She should of been providing for the children she is suppose to be responsible for! Did she bother to walk out of her catered lunch and check to see if the children she represented were being taken care of. In any other environment she would of been fired! To send a notice on the same day to the teachers is just incompetent. It’s my understanding that no notices were sent to the parents! How could this of happened – how are we to trust the school system! It’s just seems to be one comedy of errors after another. I don’t believe this would have happened in Piedmont!!! It’s just sad…….
May 10th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
This is sickening on many levels. Why must the young ones always be the ones to suffer while our government irresponsibly wastes OUR tax dollars for their own benefit. This is an utter outrage! Raises for politicians, increase in prisons, corporate bail outs, cut backs in schools. When will we realize that these kids (mostly special needs children) need the most attention and help. They are our future!
Also this principal and administrators that sent out this lunch cut memo and then turn around to their catered meetings, and being a proffesional caterer I can tell you it’s not just some meetings it’s all meetings that they cater, should be fired effective immediately. Let your voices be heard and flood your politicians with demands that they provide for all the youngs minds or be voted out. I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!
May 10th, 2010 at 3:01 pm
Mr. Tony Smith- I think it is bad practice to allow your administrative staff to continously, and more increasingly of late, answer questions on a education blogs- especially this one!
Someone better talk with Mr. Smith or the OUSD Board as this is only going to get them in a future legal battle.
Do what you will- just my advice.
Now my comment…….
First no education, now no food- why do parents let their kids go to OUSD? Why do communities align themselves with OUSD? Its not just teachers and contracts that are the problem-schools need to go through a complete tear down and a whole new approach.
May 10th, 2010 at 4:01 pm
I appreciate the fact that the OUSD administrative staff contributes to this blog, just as I appreciate statements that they make to print reporters. The more information we have the better.
Even more, I appreciate that teachers and other employees are free to express their opinions here.
Several years ago, when I was still an OUSD employee, two administrators (neither of whom now works for OUSD) tried to pressure me to stop posting. I reminded them of 1st Amendment and never heard anything else about it.
May 10th, 2010 at 4:59 pm
As a teacher, I will take any crumb of communication I can get from administrative staff. Communication through a blog is better than nothing. Superintendent Smith, you need to find some neutral non-adversarial forum to have meaningful exchanges with teachers – if that’s a blog, so be it. This food incident is typical of what many teachers experience every day. The only way teachers could bring this incident to the attention of 2nd Avenue was through a blog.
May 10th, 2010 at 7:38 pm
Wow! Great job Katy. Another Oakland employee gets thrown under the bus by a group of emotional, short-signed and ANONYMOUS
May 10th, 2010 at 7:42 pm
Wow! Great job Katy. Another Oakland employee gets thrown under the bus by a group of emotional, short-sighted and ANONYMOUS bloggers. Nothing plucks at the heart strings better than visualizing a group of poor defensless special needs students starving. Hard for anyone to do anything but nail themself to a cross after this article.
Funny……you just happen to hear this through the grapevine? Or did a teacher call you? I’m sure this teachesr only motivation was the children. We can only hope so, since the lunch decision is from the STATE
May 10th, 2010 at 8:10 pm
Hi, Oakland Parent/Teacher!
My name’s Sonia, and I’m speaking my piece with direct experience at the school site and extensive past interactions with all parties involved. What’s your name and what’s your motivation?
May 10th, 2010 at 8:13 pm
It is reasonable to assume that Katy was contacted by any of the following people: teacher, parent, student family member, school staff person, or even the food service worker. Any of those people could be upset by the situation.
Conversely, posting #49 and 50 could only be written by any of the following people: principal, principal’s family, principal’s friends. Who else would be so outraged by the discussion?
May 10th, 2010 at 10:35 pm
I just have one question. The Tilden community has received an apology for Troy Flint Director of Public Relations. Jennifer La Barre from Nutrition Services. RACHELLE WHERE IS YOURS…
May 11th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
This incident is best brought into perspective when one considers that it was just the latest in an extensive series of blunders, oversight, mishaps and disregard for the children, parents and teachers from our principal.
May 12th, 2010 at 6:30 am
In the face of such controversy and dissention, it is surprising that the principal is still there. In the best interest of the children, Dr. Smith should step in and rectify this situation. Allowing the principal to remain is irresponsible and detrimental to the children and the staff.
May 12th, 2010 at 4:19 pm
A brief note in response to the poster who inquired about the status of lunch applications for Tilden students attending school for five hours daily:
Nutrition Services reports that, to date, they have processed 35 meal applications for the 49 Tilden Pre-K students on record. An additional five applications were received but remain unprocessed as they were incomplete upon submission. Notification was sent in October regarding these applications, but we have been unable to resolve the matter. The issue should have been settled by now, but due to a number of obstacles, including staff turnover, we are still working to finalize the incomplete applications.
Additionally, it should be noted that while there may be more Pre-K students enrolled at Tilden than the 49 received applications would indicate, because Pre-K students are not enrolled in the District’s student database, Nutrition Services does not have direct access to their information, a fact which complicates processing.
To alleviate this, Nutrition Services has requested that Tilden provide it with a spreadsheet of all students and that the list be updated as needed. The list is then downloaded into the meal application software allowing Nutrition Services to process the meal applications. Unfortunately, this process does not always occur on a consistent basis, but Nutrition Services elected to continue to provide meals to Pre-K students for the reasons that have been discussed at length by the posters on this blog.
Please know that Nutrition Services is working on ways to streamline the information gathering process in a way that improves efficiency and relieves the burden on the site.
In the meantime, if there are questions about specific students, parents should contact Nutrition Services at 510.879.8345 for assistance.
Thanks,
Troy
May 14th, 2010 at 6:15 am
You people who are defaming the good name and reputation of the principal should be ashamed of yourselves!!!!! After all of the wonderful and good activities and events she has had this year so that the children at Tilden could be enriched, after she has fought so hard all year for our children’s rights you are taking an incident that NONE OF YOU know the story behind and made it into a a story for fake journalism. If I were her I would sue everyone INCLUDING the district for defamation of character!!!!!!!!!!
May 14th, 2010 at 8:07 am
Dr. Mr. Flint,
We are pleased that you have resolved this issue. Thank you for taking the time to ensure that our 3-5 year olds will be fed for the rest of the school year.
However, the issue of the school’s principal sitting down to a catered lunch with her supervisor, Sharon Casanares, while knowing that the 3 to 5 year olds in her care are without lunch, has not been addressed.
Is this okay with you Mr. Flint? Is this okay with Tony Smith and Sharon Casanares? Even more outrageous, Sharon Casaners asserts that Ms. Sallee never told her the children didn’t have food? Our confidence is lost in our principal and our disappointment in OUSD is mounting daily. Please respond and address Tilden parents and teachers.
May 14th, 2010 at 12:04 pm
Mr. Smith/Flint
I think the blogger from #46 was correct. Look at #58- they are trying to draw your cabinet staff in (#58).
Chris might be a lwayer for them, who knows?
Mr. Weinberg, were you a teacher or a cabinet member when you were restricted- I am wondering if there is a difference?