PHILADELPHIA — Staff shortages hit close to home - and stomachs - for one Philadelphia-area elementary school this week, prompting the school’s principal to think outside the cafeteria.
A letter sent home with students at S. Weir Mitchell Elementary School on Thursday alerted parents that their children were not fed breakfast and lunch that day, despite the principal’s best efforts to address a staffing gap, WPVI reported.
The letter blamed district staff for failing to report to work and organize food distribution, but did note that the school ordered pizza for 400 students in an attempt to feed them lunch. Unfortunately, some pizzas - much like the lunchroom staff - never showed, meaning some “students were not served,” the TV station reported.
Monica Lewis, spokesperson for the School District of Philadelphia, disputed the school’s account dictated in the letter, telling WPVI that both breakfast and lunch offerings were on site at the school Thursday but the staff distribution called out sick.
“When that happens, the school leader can either call food services here at (school district headquarters) to have someone deployed to assist with distribution of meals, or he or she can assign someone to step in and do that work. That didn’t happen and the principal took it upon herself to have food delivered,” Lewis told the TV station.
Meanwhile, District Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. told The Philadelphia Inquirer that the issue stemmed from “individuals who didn’t report to work, and that created a problem,” noting both the school’s cafeteria worker and the substitute worker were absent Thursday.
School staff disputed the district’s claims, however.
According to the letter sent home to parents, district staff alerted Mitchell Elementary at around 9 a.m. that neither food nor staff would be sent to the school that day.
“As soon as stores opened, I ordered pizza for 400 students to attempt lunch service,” Mitchell Elementary Principal Stephanie Andrewlevich wrote. “Some of the pizzas arrived and were served to students, some have not arrived as of 2:15 p.m. and students were not served.”
“In addition, grades 3-8 have not received breakfast support as we do not have a district food services staff member to organize it daily,” Andrewlevich added.
Meanwhile, school staff alternated regular duties with lunchroom duty, while some picked up ordered pizzas and others made runs to stores to buy water and juice, both outlets reported.
Lewis reiterated to the Inquirer that district policy dictates that a roving cafeteria worker be requested and assigned in such situations or that a school support staff member should assume those duties if a substitute is not available, but Andrewlevich argued that no staff could be spared for that role.
“It really was a matter of (Andrewlevich) taking it upon herself to order pizza,” Lewis told the newspaper, adding that Andrewlevich “has been such a strong advocate for the school and the community. But I can’t speak to why she chose to order pizza.”
“In hindsight, things definitely could have been done differently, but there was food on-hand for our families, and we will have communication going out to explain to families what happened (Thursday),” Lewis told WPVI.
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