SOUTH DUNDAS, Ontario – Students who want hot food for lunch at Seaway District High School will have to go up street as food services have shut down at the school.
A letter sent by SDHS Principal Trent Carter-Edwards to parents explained that food services ended on March 26th.
“This is due to COVID restrictions and the resulting financial pressures on the food service provider,” he said.
Upper Canada District School Board spokesperson April Scott-Clarke explained that Seaway was not the only school affected by the closures.
“Fourteen other food service providers have had to temporarily stop serving in our schools for the remainder of the 2020/21 school year,” she said.
Scott-Clarke said that vendors have cited insufficent sales due to COVID-19 related restrictions.
Grade 7 and 8 students at Seaway will remain in their classrooms at the school for their lunch time and must bring food from home.
Grade 9 to 12 students will also need to bring their lunches to school, or have a signed permission form on file to allow them to leave the property to get lunch at the Iroquois Plaza.
The Leader contacted Compass Group Canada, which provides the food service for SDHS for further comment. The company issued a statement.
“We can confirm that the majority of cafeterias in this jurisdiction have closed temporarily due to a variety of factors associated with the pandemic,” the company said. “This decision was made in partnership with the Upper Canada District School Board. We regret the inconvenience this has caused and look forward to welcoming the student community back when it is appropriate to do so.”
This story was originally written for, and appeared in The Morrisburg Leader.
