Kingsville mayor explains his lunch business's connection with schools
Kingsville Mayor Dennis Rogers says a food business he co-owns, which delivers lunches to local schools, had no influence on the public board's decision not to include a cafeteria in the large new school being built in his municipality.
“We have no contract with the school boards,” Rogers said of Green Heart Kitchen in a Facebook post Wednesday.
The Kingsville business — which produces “fresh and healthy meals made from scratch,” according to its website — deals directly with principals and parent councils, with parents purchasing prepared lunches, according to the mayor's social media posting.
In the midst of a swirling controversy over how the Greater Essex County District School Board chose the name — Erie Migration Academy — for a new kindergarten to Grade 12 school opening in Kingsville in the fall, Rogers said he wanted to clarify Green Heart's relationship with local schools after “hearing some questions as far as my business and the new school.”
The school has been under a great deal of scrutiny in the community since trustees in February ignored the recommendations of a naming committee and chose a name that didn't include the word Kingsville. Kingsville District High School is one of the schools being replaced by Erie Migration, which is expected to host 1,045 elementary and 753 secondary students when it opens in September.
“Our business has been providing lunches to Kingsville schools for 10 years now. We also cater to over 20 other schools in Windsor/ Essex in all four school boards,” Rogers said in his Facebook post.
“I just outlined what our business is, what we've been doing, why there's zero conflicts, why we haven't been involved in any of the decision making,” Rogers told The Windsor Star.
Schools can register with Green Heart Kitchen, which will then deliver lunches daily for children, its website says.
Green Heart Kitchen is also known in the community for producing meals for school-aged children-in-need through community donations.
“Our company is actually on track to provide almost 4,000 lunches for deserving kids in the four elementary schools in Kingsville,” the mayor's post read.
“The town has zero authority or decision making when it comes to the school and its property and had zero conversations or influence in the new school not having a cafeteria.
“Should there ever be a conflict I would declare it after consulting with our integrity commissioner, which I've had to do a few times with town decisions and our business.”