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Former food-service employee urges board to stop discarding edible student meals
Summary
Adrian Fitzgerald, identified as a former SFE employee and district constituent, told the board he was fired after raising concerns about throwing away edible student food and urged the board to treat hunger as urgent among students; board thanked him and moved on to adjournment.
At the board's public-comment period on Feb. 18, Adrian Fitzgerald, introduced by the chair, spoke about food waste in district cafeterias and said he was terminated after raising the issue.
"Can we offer food to students before we throw it in the garbage?" Fitzgerald asked the board. He described watching students ask for more food that was later discarded and said the silence the previous month when he raised the issue "stayed with me." Fitzgerald said his termination was unexpected and unfair but said he continued to speak on behalf of students who cannot speak for themselves. He also noted that one-third of district students are from economically disadvantaged homes.
The chair thanked Fitzgerald for his comments and the meeting moved to adjournment; no policy action was recorded during the meeting in response to the comment.
What happens next: Fitzgerald said he will continue to follow the issue as a constituent; the board did not announce a follow-up response during the meeting.
