Editor’s Note: Be prepared to find yourself mad as Hell about the way CCS mistreats our most prized possessions-Our Children. Feeding “slop” to our children two meals a day appears to be unreported Child Abuse and Neglect. This article will be forwarded directly to the Cleveland County Department of Social Services as an official complaint of Child Abuse and Child Neglect. Commissioners, YOU take note. DSS works for YOU and YOU have failed to hold DSS accountable for NOT doing their job.
Educational Experts says adequate and nutritiously fed children are essential to achieving a proper education for our children. If YOU don’t understand that basic concept, perhaps YOU should go watch some Soap Operas or something. Same goes for the nitwits at CCS who are in charge of the Child Nutrition programs. This article is targeted toward those parents who give a damn about the mis-education and malnutrition of our children. And what WE, together, can do about it.
Over the years, School Board Member Dr. Danny Blanton has repeatedly reported to the entire CCS School Board, Superintendent and CCS Administrative staff that there are major problems with the food being served to students in the cafeterias at CCS schools. Everything from wasted food that the hungry children refuse to eat to the (former) School Nutritionist purchasing chewing gum, crackers and energy drinks by the cases and charging them to CCS P-Cards. With NO tracking of the junk food purchases leading back to any needs at Cleveland County Schools. Robert A himself obtained, through Public Records Request, a computer disc full of the CCS Nutritionists purchase records and discovered widespread abuse. Perhaps the most widespread abuse of P-Cards by any CCS administrator who was issued a P-Card. Robert A also discovered the CCS Nutritionist charging “massages” to CCS P-Cards from the Spa at the exclusive Grove Park Inn n Asheville, NC. And other such indications of “mischief” that was never punished appropriately.
Years later and still on the job at CCS, the CCS Nutritionist switched school cafeterias over from actually cooking hot meals to serving individually wrapped items of what could be considered “Junk Food” to students on a regular basis. In the process, the CCS Nutritionist decided that CCS cafeterias no longer needed pots, pans, food warming servers, heavy duty industrial quality (and very expensive) slicers and food grinders, stainless steel food preparation tables, etc. were listed as surplus and sold for pennies on the dollar. Often, as reported, the top-quality electrical equipment had the electrical plug cut off so potential buyers couldn’t plug them in to see whether or not the expensive equipment would function or not. An old-time insider trick to keep prospective bidders unawares of the actual workings of the equipment. Thus, always generating low bids that would allow the insider to obtain the equipment at the lowest of prices. Sources report that the Former CCS Nutritionist has completely stocked a commercial quality kitchen in her own vacation home using high quality commercial equipment bought as surplus at CCS auctions.
So, it is no wonder that CCS Lunchrooms/cafeterias can no longer prepare hot and nutritious meals for CCS students. All under the closed eyes of School Board Chairmen, Robert “Luke: Queen, who has turned blind eyes toward fiscal irresponsibility. And shuts down Dr. Blanton when he brings up these ugly facts.
Folks, all that has been stated so far is the “Good Part.” You ain’t heard nothing yet!!
Robert A is about to put up the August 2022 CCS School Breakfast Menu for your convenience and review. Look closely until you get eye strain, but you will NOT find certain things that would be normal for a Breakfast menu. And, remember-Breakfast is the most important meal of the day
What YOU will NOT find at all on the CCS School August Breakfast Menu:
Bacon and Eggs
Sausage and Eggs
Steak and Eggs
Ham and Eggs
Scrambled Eggs
Fried Eggs
Boiled Eggs
A baked biscuit
Hot Grits
Livermush Biscuit
Hot Oatmeal
Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich
Biscuit and Gravy
Waffles
Pancakes
Toasted whole wheat bread with anything
Just about anything that requires a frying pan or any other kind of pot or pan and an oven and a stove.
Look at what you DO find on the CCS A School Breakfast Menu:
Pop-Tarts every day of many varieties that maybe you can microwave.
Graham Crackers every day
Cold cereal every day
Sometimes a Goody Bun (Whatever that is)
Sometimes a Breakfast Bagel or a Country Gravy Pizza (Whatever that is)
Sometimes a Cinnamon roll or a Pancake on a stick (Whatever that is)
Sometimes French Toast sticks, or a Super donut or a Maple Pancake Griddle sandwich
Apparently, lots of artificial flavored empty calory stuff that requires no cooking or fixing of any kind. Most of which, according to many reports, ends up in the trash cans instead of to the nourishment of the child.
But, don’t believe Robert A. Look on the attached August 2022 CCS school Breakfast Menu and see for yourself.
Now, the worst part. Insult added to injury. At the last School Board Meeting when School Board Candidate Ronnie Grigg invited ALL the School Board members to go with him to visit the Number 1 School Nutrition Expert in the Nation, the Greenville County, South Carolina School District, where the students eat the food served to them and the Federal Requirements for Free Lunch Reimbursement has been completely worked out; NONE of the School Board Members except for Dr. Danny Blanton showed one whit of interest in participating. Indeed, School Board member Joel Shores said that school district was in South Carolina and the Federal Rules are different down there. School Board Chairman Robert “Luke” Queen was so angry that Ronnie Grigg and Dr. Danny Blanton had taken it upon themselves to find solutions to simple problems that he called Superintendent Fisher up to the Podium to explain why things were done at CCS like they were. Supt. Fisher went on and on that everything had to be done according to the Federal US Department of Agriculture rules for CCS to get reimbursed for Free Lunches. Of course, any person who can read the US Constitution for themselves realizes that Federal Rules are the same for every state, that the only differences that might occur would be how the Federal Rules are interpreted by local entities like CCS. In other words, the School District in Greenville, South Carolina with 111 schools, have figured out the Federal Rules in such a way that everybody is happy with the results. And the nitwits that make up the majority of the CCS School Board are happy to allow Supt. Fisher and his Sunday School Class to misinterpret the Federal Rules where everybody is mad as Hell and the Children won’t eat the slop that is put before them every day.
But there is more. Much more. That Robert A has come up with all by himself to resolve the various aspects of the CCS bad food issue that CCS Supt Fisher and his staff haven’t even touched upon. This came to Robert A when he was thinking about what HE would do if He were a Commissioner.
It goes like this:
The CCS problem with bad food, according to Supt. Fisher stems from the Reimbursement requirements for the School Free Lunch Program as required by the US Department of Agriculture.
Just think about this for a moment. The Federal Free Lunch Program as Schools comes from the obvious fact that children learn better when they are NOT hungry. And everybody involved says that the Free Lunches at Schools are often the only meals. Food, that some poor children get all day.
However, DSS and their Foodstamps already pays for enough for every poor child in Cleveland County to be fed adequately. Indeed, it would be considered child abuse or child neglect for a parent to NOT feed their children. So, in short, the Food Stamp program was initiated. Last time I checked, there were between 20,000 to 25,000 recipients of Foodstamps in Cleveland County. Which roughly matches the 39% of the Cleveland County workforce, according to County statistics, that are not working. And also matches the fact that having children in the household unit is almost a 100% requisite for being eligible for Foodstamps to begin with. Another DSS figure I remember is that there are about $120 Million in Foodstamps being issued per month in Cleveland County> Plenty of funding for every hungry child to be properly fed.
So, if there are lots of children who are not being fed at home, it is because the parents are spending all this money elsewhere. Also, if taxpayers are paying for Free Lunches, that means taxpayers are paying TWICE for that poor child to be fed. Once for the Foodstamps to fully feed the child at home and twice to partially feed the child at school.
So, where does all that food money go? Most attribute parents on drugs are swapping their families Foodstamps for Drugs.
Now, what to do???
Who in Cleveland County has the authority to oversee the Cleveland County Department of Social Services? The County Commissioners, that is who. Robert A, as a County Commissioner, would task the CCDSS to separate sufficient amounts from a Drug infested Foodstamps recipient’s Foodstamps to pay CCS a fair amount for the Child’s “Free Meals at school. Therefore, there would be no need for CCS to have to follow the extensive Federal rules associated with the School Free Lunch program. This simplified approach would reduce the bureaucracy at CCS and fee up those $$$ into the education component of CCS. Everybody wins. The child gets fed, less CCS administration frees up funds for use in the classroom and the Druggies ready sources of Foodstamps dries up a proportional amount of available funding for the drug dealers who swap drugs for Foodstamps.
However, it would be 2024 before Robert A, if he so decides, to run for the County Commissioners Board and that is two years away. What do we do in the Short term?
Robert A says that is an easy question too. If all the School Board, except for Ronnie Grigg and Dr. Danny Blanton, are NOT interested in improving the nutrition for students at CCS, then it is up to parents and citizens to go along with Mr. Grigg and Dr. Blanton down to Greenville South Carolina and learn all that can be learned to copy the successes of the Greenville County School District’s successful School Nutrition program in order to “FIX” the Cleveland County Schools failed School Nutrition Program. A Citizens Volunteer Group to properly feed the Children at Cleveland County Schools. A Citizens Volunteer Group to encourage and support Ronnie Grigg and Danny Blanton in this year’s School Board general election. Robert A suggests a group of five, Ronnie Grigg and Dr. Danny Blanton plus three citizen volunteers. Preferably mothers and grandmothers of school aged children with open Facebook accounts, to go along with Grigg and Blanton to Greenville, SC at an agreed upon time. Ask questions and listen closely while there. And share what you learn with the world.
It can be just that simple to change CCS. Even if CCS refuses to listen. That is a story for another article.
August 2022 Beakfastt Menu