Parents: School’s Too Open for Lunch

At Roch Courreges Elementary School, students joke about not bringing a cheese sandwich for lunch because it will melt in the sun. And they tease each other in grade-school fashion about bird droppings falling on food or soiling clothing.

But the school’s open-air dining area and the birds it attracts are not a laughing matter for parents, who say they want the lunch area covered. “It is the No. 1 health concern that parents have come to me about,” Principal Lorraine Leavitt said.

Another complaint is that, when it rains, students must eat lunch in classrooms. And when it’s warm, the dining area, which has walls but no roof, heats up like an oven.

When the school was built 20 years ago, Leavitt said, the intention was to cover the area. But by forgoing a roof, she said, the school could build bigger classrooms.

The school’s PTA investigated the cost of a cover and got estimates of about $30,000--”not within our budget,” said Hilary Dowe, PTA co-president.

Parent Michael Hakam recently asked Fountain Valley School District trustees to consider paying for the project. He said his 6-year-old son, who is fair-skinned, is exposed to the sun as well as bacteria-laden bird droppings during lunch every school day.

Courreges is one of 10 schools in the district with open eating areas, officials said. There have been roof requests from parents at the other campuses too.

But there are “many more improvement needs than money available,” said Marc Ecker, assistant superintendent of business and administration. Lunch area covers will be considered, he said, when the district reviews its capital improvement goals May 9.

Dowe said a PTA survey in March found that covering the lunch area is a top priority. “Everyone is concerned about ultraviolet exposure and the heat,” she said. “It’s very uncomfortable for the kids.”