Parent urges Pleasantville board to address food-supply complaints, question $200,000 dean hire and contractor onboarding

Priscilla Noel, a parent from Pleasantville, used the May 13 Board of Education meeting’s public-comment period to urge the district to fix reported food-supply problems in school cafeterias, require stronger onboarding for outsourced contractors, and explain a proposed dean-of-students position that she said would cost about $200,000.

Noel said she has “received multiple complaints from students in various grades about the lack of food and supplies when they are receiving lunch,” and asked how the district’s food-service renewal would “improve upon food service so that students do not experience food scarcity.” She also asked the board to require onboarding so contracted staff “deliver service that aligns with the district values.”

Noel questioned staff restructuring tied to item 6.3 on the agenda, saying the board is considering a new dean-of-students position that she described as costing roughly $200,000 and asked why existing administrators could not fill the role. “Why can't those people already in place be dean of students? Why is it that we have to add on, $200,000 worth of new staff, which cost more to the district than utilizing the human resources we already have in place?” she asked.

Noel praised the board’s apparent approval of agenda items 3.25 and 3.26—improvements she said students “deserve” for athletic facilities—and said repairs had not been done since 2012. She urged the board to ensure contractors are onboarded to meet district standards and values.

The board did not debate Noel’s comments during the public-comment period; the meeting moved on to the superintendent’s report and a series of routine motions and roll-call votes. The record does not show a formal response from the superintendent or a board directive to staff to investigate or act on the specific food-service complaints Noel described.

Clarifying details from the meeting record about Noel’s concerns were limited to her public remarks: she cited multiple student complaints about lunch supplies, asked how a food-service contract renewal would address those complaints, and explicitly questioned a roughly $200,000 dean-of-students position and whether internal staff might fill it. The transcript does not specify the vendor(s) she referenced or any formal board action tied to her comments.