Parents’ complaints about Everett school lunches, from portion sizes to warm milk, went to the School Committee’s cafeteria subcommittee on Monday, March 2, after a half-hour exchange with the district’s food service contractor. The same night the committee accepted a $160,000 Barr Foundation planning grant for the high school and learned that two snow days have pushed the last day of school from June 16 to Tuesday, June 23. Joseph D’Onofrio and Joseph LaMonica were absent.
Cafeteria
Robin Babcock said parents told her older elementary and middle school students do not get enough food, later lunch periods run out of the daily special, and some meals arrived undercooked or overcooked. One parent sent photos of a poutine attempt. “It doesn’t look like that in France,” she said. Joe Armenti, district manager for Whitsons School Nutrition, said the company feeds about 5,000 of the district’s 7,350 students a day, that students can always return for more fruit and vegetables, and that portions are set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. New Everett director Michael DiMascio put it plainly: “It’s 4 ounces of protein for a 5 year old and 4 ounces of protein for a 18 year old.” Armenti said Whitsons will add a salad bar and a rotisserie at the high school, survey student councils, and make sure specials last through the final lunch.
Superintendent William Hart interrupted to say regulations have “ways around it.” “I don’t want any child who comes to our schools, we talk about feeding them and getting them ready for school, I don’t want any child to walk away hungry,” he said. Margaret Cornelio said students sometimes have five minutes to eat; Hart said that is the district’s scheduling problem, with first lunch at 10:30 a.m. in some buildings because “we don’t have any space.” Student representative Emma Perry said lunch at the high school “is very efficient” and asked for the Italian combo sandwich to return. Millie Cardello, who said she has watched food thrown away for years, moved the matter to the cafeteria subcommittee chaired by Cornelio. DiMascio, who hosts a cooking show on Foxborough public access called Let’s Cook with Mike, offered to feature Everett culinary students.
Barr Foundation and other grants
Hart called the $160,000 Barr Foundation planning grant “a very unique and innovative partnership that Everett has never had before,” to build a unified instructional vision for Everett High and the alternative high school after more than a year of applications. He credited former principal Dennis Lynch, principal John Braga, Assistant Superintendent Margaret Adams, grants director Carrie O’Donnell and assistant principal Karen Hughes. The committee also accepted, all 8-0, a $35,000 state career-connected learning grant, a $182,000 PRISM III continuation grant for grades 4 and 5 curriculum, $3,700 from the state treasurer for a Credit for Life fair organized by math chair Dave Babineau, and $500 from the Everett Cultural Council for a workshop with historian Stephen Puleo.
Attendance calls
Babcock and Hurley asked why parents get automated calls saying children were absent when they were in school. Braga said doors open at 7:30 a.m., homeroom runs 8:00 to 8:07, and students are marked tardy at 8:01. A follow-up call at 6 p.m. corrects the morning record, and Assistant Superintendent Lynch said the district recently separated the tardy and absent messages. Hart said such errors are “not a systemic concern” and that the district can tell parents exactly when a student scanned in: “She came in the building at 08:39.” Almeida Barros used the discussion to press the new mayor on space. “This building was built for 1,700 kids. We have almost 2,400 kids here,” he said, adding that the Parlin holds 1,000 students in a building built for 700. Van Campen replied: “Thank you for that low expectation.”
Also March 2
- Cardello paid tribute to Irene Reardon, a retired teacher who taught at the Hamilton School, now the Keverian, from 1966 and died at 92.
- Hart said a surprise state audit of federal grant spending produced one housekeeping finding on a single vendor, and that the auditor called Everett’s reporting document “a perfect document” to use across the state.
- More than 400 students attended the February vacation acceleration academy with 49 staff. A family university runs March 10 at the Parlin, 5 to 7:30 p.m., and a biliteracy night March 18 at the Keverian.
- Everett High teacher Claudia St. Juste received the Black Excellence on the Hill award at the State House, and the theater company won acting, set design and stage management awards at the METG drama festival; it performs The Lottery on March 12, tickets $5.
- Lafayette seventh grader Natalia Morello was chosen for the Northeastern Junior District Music Festival on violin, and junior Raghav Verma was picked for the BioBuilder summer research program.
- Webster Extension pre-K staff showed a video of their daily poetry party. Grades 9, 11 and 12 will start at 10:30 a.m. on March 24-25 and May 19-20 for MCAS testing.
- Bills and payroll of about $1.5 million were approved. The meeting adjourned at 8:34 p.m.
Previous School Committee meeting (February 3): Everett School Committee Approves Free Full-Day Pre-K 9-0 and Adopts a Lottery Rule for Vocational Admissions; Hart Says State Aid Is Up but Not Enough
