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An elementary school principal in Pennsylvania had to order pizza for her students after the cafeteria staff didn't show up for work. S. Weir Mitchell Elementary School in Philadelphia provides free breakfast and lunch for its students, but school officials were left scrambling because there was nobody to prepare or serve the food.
Stephanie Andrewlevich, the school's principal, decided to take matters into her own hands and ordered pizza from local restaurants.
"As soon as the stores opened, I ordered pizza for 400 students to attempt lunch service," Andrewlevich said in a letter to parents.
Teachers were also asked to assist, with some tasked with buying water and juice from local stores.
Despite her efforts, the pizzas arrived later in the day, and many students were forced to go the whole day without eating. That upset many parents, who told WPVI, their children complained of being hungry when they got home.
"When we were leaving school, they were complaining they were hungry, they didn't eat all day," parent Sherrae Jackson told the news station. "And I was very upset because I should have gotten a phone call."
Another parent was angry that the school didn't reach out about the issue earlier in the day.
"My son goes here, and somebody's gotta stand up for something because this is not right at all," Octavia Clark said. "They still didn't notify none of us. It's ridiculous. This is really sad."
The school district blamed the issue on a staff shortage.
"However, the Food Services staff member assigned to Mitchell Elementary that day was unable to report to work, and there was no one available to manage the distribution of these meals," a district spokesperson said. "Because of this, the principal chose to have external food delivered to cover lunch for students at the school."
The next day, the cafeteria staff was back at work, and breakfast and lunch were served without any issues.