I was thrown under a bus in school meals row
HEAD SAYS HE JUST PASSED ON COUNCIL MESSAGE
AHEADTEACHER has claimed a council has “thrown him under the bus”, after a threat to deny meals to pupils more than 1p in debt.
According to Neil Foden, strategic headteacher of Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle in Penygroes, a letter he sent to parents was based on the advice of Gwynedd Council.
It sparked an angry reaction from parents with anti-poverty campaigner and Manchester United striker, Marcus Rashford, also adding his concerns.
School governors have since said they would not back any moves that would result in children being refused a meal and called on the council to review the procedures described.
Gwynedd Council has apologised for any concern caused by the letter.
Mr Foden told BBC Wales that the council’s statement in response to the row had given “an impression that I had acted outside the authority’s policy”.
But in a letter to parents, he said that after initially agreeing the wording of a council press release, “they put all the responsibility on me” in the later statement.
He added: “I have been thrown under the bus.”
Mr Foden said he had “consulted the authority” about school dinner debts that had built up since late last year.
He said he had received an email from the council instructing him to tell parents that any debts over £10 would be transferred to the local authority and that the cook would not feed children unless their debt had been cleared.
“All I did was to pass on the authority’s message to parents”, he said.
Mr Foden said the situation “has been very damaging to me”, with him having forwarded more than 20 verbally abusive emails to the police.
In a statement, Gwynedd Council said: “The welfare of children and young people is always our priority, and we will always ensure that no child across the county will face a day without lunch at school.
“This should be made clear in any letter to parents from the county’s schools when discussing school dinners.”
It urged anyone “experiencing difficulty” paying for school meals to get in touch.