The spork has come to Herricks schools, and not everyone is tossing her eating utensils into the air for joy.
“Awful,” Jodi Dodge, mother of a Herricks student, said. “They’re awful.”
She said she was speaking on behalf of her daughter when she raised the utensil issue – a spork is a hybrid of a spoon and fork – at Thursday’s Board of Education meeting.
The district has switched to sporks from plastic forks and spoons, but it is not completely wedded to the idea.
Lisa Rutkoske, assistant superintendent for business, said it is something the district is trying out.
She said the spork system is more sanitary because of how the utensils come packaged.
Dodge said that it is also more wasteful.
She said students who may only get a sandwich have to take the whole spork package just for a straw, and then proceed to throw the rest out.
Board of Education President Brian Hassan said that if it is not successful, or there is a lot of pushback, then the district will change back to the old system.
On Tuesday, Fino Celano, the school superintendent, said via email that the school district had switched to sporks for two main reasons. “The first, and most important, is health,” he said. “The serious flu outbreak this season led us to consider additional ways to improve hygience and prevent illness. Unlike standard forks and spoons, the sporks are individually wrapped to ensure that germs cannot spread. Secondly, eliminating the step of selecting utensils expedites the lunch line process so that students have more time to eat their meals.”
But he said that the district’s Nutrition Committee would reassess the issue since questions have been raised.
Dodge also said that according to her daughter grilled chicken has been missing during lunch recently.
Rutkoske said this is the first time that has been brought to her attention but she will look into it.
Another Herricks parent, Bhajan Ratra, brought a different lunchtime issue up with the board – limited periods for the middle schoolers.
Ratra said the 20-minute lunch period in the middle school is not long enough.
Ratra said especially for students who bring their lunch to school and have to go from their classroom to their locker to the lunchroom, 20 minutes is not long enough.
Trustee Nancy Feinstein said that the shortened time is an issue often brought up by parents with students new to the middle school.
She added that the shortened time helps reduce some of the social stress and issues that are common among middle school students.
Trustee Jim Gounaris echoed what Feinstein said, noting that it only takes about six minutes to eat and the “rest is fluff.”
Gounaris said that it is an adjustment at first, but it leaves less time for the chitchat and “nastiness” that can arise.
Bhavesh Patel, a junior at Herricks High School and student representative on the Board of Education, said that at first the limited time is tough, but he said it gets easier.
Then by high school, Patel said, the 40-minute period is a nice treat.
During the meeting the board also honored the high school’s robotics team, the Herricks Highlandbots, who qualified for the U.S. CREATE Open National VEX Robotics Competition and Southern New York State VEX High School Championships.
(Photo by Rebecca Klar)
The team wasn’t the only one honored – Superintendent Fino Celano had a certificate for the robot, too.
Additionally, the board recognized two level three French students, Kristen Aloysius and Carrie Hsu, who took first and second place respectively in a French poetry competition coordinated by the American Association of Teachers of French’s Nassau County chapter.
The board also announced that the next meeting, on Feb. 15, will be the first of four budget meetings.
