Lunch ‘break’

School-cafeteria letter grades nixed

The state senator who promised legislation that would force city schools to post letter grades for cafeteria cleanliness backed off the plan following talks with the de Blasio administration, The Post has learned.

Instead of the bold capital A’s, B’s and C’s, such as those that alert restaurant customers to potentially nauseating kitchen conditions, a watered-down bill proposed by Sen. Jeff Klein (D-Bronx) calls for violations to be listed online and in letters sent home to parents.

On Wednesday, the City Council debated a similar measure — prompting the lead sponsor to say he was considering a new version that would mandate letter grades.

“When I asked if there should be different standards for schools versus restaurants, it hit me grades may be a part of it,” said Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights).

Klein’s compromise didn’t sit well with some students at PS-MS 147 Ronald McNair, which Klein recently revealed to have the worst-scoring cafeteria in the public school system.

“I think letter grades like the one they have in restaurants are a good idea. It’s good to know if your school is actually clean or only kind of clean,” said 10-year-old fifth-grader Maya Hollis.

Another fifth-grader, Brandon Jones, also 10, added, “If I had to grade them, I’d give them a C.”

“Every time I walk in the cafeteria, I see it’s dirty. Almost everything is dirty,” he fumed.

The Senate’s Independent Democratic Conference, which Klein chairs, last year issued a blistering report titled “School Lunch Flunks,” which exposed disgustingly dirty conditions at dozens of public schools.

The revelations included an estimated 400 mouse droppings found in Manhattan’s Sixth Avenue Elementary School, and 15 live roaches in PS-IS 284 in Brooklyn.

The IDC pledged legislation that would convert cafeteria inspections into letter grades, which would have to be posted “in a space in the school that is visible to all parents.”

Klein’s spokeswoman said his bill dropped the letter-grade provision because schools are required by law to correct any violations, meaning that if they were to mirror the restaurant system, only a “Grade Pending” or an “A” could be awarded.

“Our end goal was to create transparency,” said the spokeswoman, Candice Giove.

“We would prefer that parents have this knowledge of what’s going on in their school cafeteria than no knowledge at all.”

City Health Department officials said they didn’t like the idea of grading school cafeterias because it could lead students to skip meals.