Sumter School District food described by parents as ‘inedible’

SUMTER, S.C. (WIS) - Parents of Sumter School District (SSD) students are raising concerns over cafeteria food which they describe as unhealthy and inedible.

“The food looks nasty, it’s disgusting. It looks like it’s been put in the microwave and pulled back out… it’s not good,” said Ashley, a parent who chose to remain anonymous.

The mother of three has a son and daughter attending Bates Middle School. Her children often skip breakfast and lunch in the cafeteria and return home hungry.

“The pizzas are burnt. The meat is, like, raw at some points. I’ve told my teacher, but she says we don’t have no choice but to eat it,” said Ashley’s 14-year-old son, who also chose to remain anonymous.

Sumter School District food described by parents as ‘inedible’ — Sumter School District food described by parents as ‘inedible’(Parent of student at Sumter School District)

Earlier this week, Ashley’s daughter received a discolored burger patty promoting WIS to reach out to SSD on Thursday. In their initial response, a spokesperson said, “hamburger patties are purchased fully cooked… the discoloration is a result of the patties being prepared too closely together.”

In a follow-up statement on Friday, SSD said the “food service team works diligently to ensure our staff receives training on food safety guidelines and the importance of serving food of high quality.”

SSD’s statement was met with criticism from a separate mother who chose to go by Tiffany for this report.

“Their response is bull****. Because if it was high quality [food] then I wouldn’t have to complain about my son’s lunch,” said Tiffany outside her apartment complex.

Sumter School District food described by parents as ‘inedible’ — Sumter School District food described by parents as ‘inedible’(Parent of student at Sumter School District)

According to the mother of two, her youngest son was served raw chicken at Alice Drive Middle School in September. She notified the school issuing a response from the assistant principal.

“They reassured me they took care of it… but still. If he did eat it, he would have gotten sick. What would the outcome of that have been,” questioned Tiffany.

Ashley and Tiffany are calling for enhanced faculty training and better food quality across SSD. As of now, both parents send their kids to school with a pre-made lunch.

The district confirmed with WIS that an average of 5,788 breakfast meals and 10,282 lunch meals were served daily in October.

WIS has not received reports of children falling ill from SSD cafeteria food.

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