Parent, cafeteria worker tells board children are being served sugary bagged breakfasts and denied alternative options

Summary

A parent and cafeteria worker, Amanda Jones, told the Colonial Heights school board that students are receiving bagged breakfasts such as Cocoa Puffs or honey buns and that children who cannot drink milk are being denied juice; she said some students are offered minimal substitutes and sometimes denied seconds while food is discarded.

Amanda Jones, who identified herself as a parent, bus driver and cafeteria worker, spoke during public comment to raise concerns about school meal practices.

Jones said breakfast is often distributed as a bag (she described items such as Cocoa Puffs or a honey bun with milk) and expressed concern that many children do not eat until morning and that sugary breakfasts may affect classroom behavior. "They're sugaring them up," she said.

Jones described instances she said occurred in the cafeteria: students who cannot drink milk were denied juice and told to drink water from a fountain; children with allergies (she cited pork and peanut butter) were sometimes offered a substitute she described as "five slices of cucumbers and an apple" and told that was a full meal; another child she said received "peas and carrots and French fries" as a full meal when unable to take the first or second‑choice items. Jones added that staff sometimes deny seconds while cooked food is later discarded.

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Parent, cafeteria worker tells board children are being served sugary bagged breakfasts and denied alternative options

Summary

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