Ministry of Education reimburses schools $76k for late, poor-quality lunches

Whangārei Intermediate School received $1440.43 as the Ministry reimbursed schools that had to replace poor-quality lunches. Photo / Yolisa Tswanya

• The Ministry of Education reimbursed more than $76,000 to schools for late and poor-quality meals.
• Improvements in delivery times have been noted, but meal quality issues and waste persist.
• The School Lunch Collective has implemented new initiatives to enhance meal consistency and quality.

The Ministry of Education has reimbursed more than $76,000 to schools forced to buy lunches in term one after school lunch programme mishaps.

As of April 17, $76,288 has been reimbursed nationwide – $2877 of which went to four Northland schools.

Whangārei Intermediate School received $1440, Oho Mauri got $111, Ruawai College got $282 and Taipa Area School received $1043.

Ministry of Education acting hautū (leader) for operations and integration Hester Goodwin said the ministry was following up with all schools on the School Lunch Collective model to gather outstanding invoices for reimbursements owed from term one.

He said most of the challenges the School Lunch Collective experienced in the first term have been resolved.

Since March, the School Lunch Collective had delivered lunches to schools nationwide on schedule 98% of the time, Goodwin said.

“Delivery from the Whangārei and Kaitāia Central Production Kitchens to Northland schools has been consistently 100% on time since the start of term one, except for two days.”

Goodwin said during term one, 37 complaints came from Northland schools. Thirty-five of which related to schools under the collective model and concerned menus, late delivery and food safety.

Whangārei Intermediate School business manager Lisa Barber said while delivery times had improved, the quality of meals was not great – a lot still went to waste.

Whether the lunches were eaten depended on the meal that day.

Butter chicken and rice was generally accepted, she said.

But the day mince, roasted potatoes and vegetables were served about 90% was sent back.

“... And this was after staff took some home for their animals, particularly one who is a pig farmer,” Barber said.

“The mince is really over-processed, and the roast potato cubes were pretty mushy.”

Barber was not hopeful the situation would get any better and believed waste would continue.

“Our previous providers actually gave kids options they enjoyed, there was a lot less waste then and they got fruit daily and a tub of yogurt, it was things the kids were interested in eating.”

A School Lunch Collective spokesperson said feedback was listened to and a number of new initiatives implemented to enhance the programme in term two.

The initiatives included new meals and new technology that allowed schools to track their food.

“We’ve been running our central production kitchen in Hamilton throughout the school holidays, allowing us to build up stock numbers.

“This will ensure there is more consistency with meals matching the menu each day.”

The spokesperson said the collective had completed planned repairs and maintenance to ensure food safety and quality standards were met.

“So far in term two, we’ve delivered on time and in full to Northland schools 100% of the time.”

The spokesperson said feedback from schools was important and menu appeals continue to be the strongest area of focus.

“We believe in the potential of this programme and remain committed to seeing it thrive,” they said.

“Our focus has always been, and will continue to be, the wellbeing of New Zealand’s tamariki. Every decision we make is guided by our dedication to supporting their wellbeing, growth and success.”

The Auditor General plans to carry out an inquiry into the school lunch programme.

The inquiry will look into the Ministry’s planning, procurement and contract implementation for the alternative model.