Illinois school strike freezes foodservice

WAUKEGAN, Ill. — Waukegan School District 60, last week, began the process required to resume food service to students during the ongoing teachers’ strike. The District recognizes that the current strike is creating a hardship for many students and families that rely on the availability of customary food services that are available during the school year.

The District reached out to vendors and made plans to have necessary food and dairy delivered to schools by Monday, Oct. 27. District officials also reached out to State and federal officials, and received permission to proceed with food service, as long as all regulations are met. The federal regulations implementing the Richard Russell Federal School Lunch Act prohibit school sites from serving lunches if strikers, participating in a labor-management work dispute, are present.

With that guideline in mind, Superintendent Dr. Donaldo R. Batiste on Friday, reached out to Union leadership and asked if teachers would agree to avoid picketing at six school sites for two hours each day, so that lunch can be served to students, according to a press release.

The sites selected included Carman-Buckner, Clearview, North and Washington elementary, as well as Jack Benny and Daniel Webster middle schools. Each site is in a neighborhood setting, away from major thoroughfares. The proposed programs would have operated similar to the Summer Lunch Program, where students who wish to receive food would arrive at each location and be served in the cafeteria.

The District said Union President Kathy Schwarz was presented with a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) on Friday that detailed the specifics of the plan and was asked to sign off on an item that requested the Union agree not to conduct active picketing at the six school sites for two-hours each day. Picketing at those sites would be allowed before and after the two