Auckland school delivered frozen scrolls, considers dropping Government’s lunch programme
Friday, 14 March 2025
An Auckland school is considering dropping out of the Government’s school lunch programme after a delivery of frozen food.
Massey Primary School was delivered frozen cheese scrolls on Friday, leaving kids hungry.
Principal Bruce Barnes said the school community was tired of the situation.
The principal of an Auckland school says he is considering taking his school out of the Government’s school lunch programme after another round of lunches turned up frozen.
On Friday, Massey Primary School was delivered frozen cheese scrolls, with principal Bruce Barnes saying the food was cold all the way through.
“They are about the size of a hot crossed bun, a scroll type thing, they’ve got some sort of tomato paste in the middle of them, but they’re frozen,” he said.
Speaking to Stuff, Barnes said the school community was tired of the situation and there was “no excuse” for lunches to be turning up frozen.
“We’re not living in Dickens’ age. We’re not living in the Victorian age. We’re a land of plenty, and we should be serving good quality food to our students.”
Barnes said his students won’t eat cold food and he has been receiving complaints from parents saying their children have been coming home hungry.
He said the school had expressed their concerns to the school lunch provider, Compass, and have met with company representatives twice.
“They just said that they intend to get better and everything will come right in the end. But obviously, it’s going to be a long process before that happens,” Barnes said.
“I believe they believe what they’re saying, but I don’t see any end to it. I mean, we’re getting Australian lasagna, and we’ve got a course of Watties ones, the ones that are too hot to eat.
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result.”
Barnes said he has organised a Board of Trustees meeting for next week to discuss whether to pull Massey Primary School out of the school lunch programme.
“I’ve got parents who want to have a public meeting and see who can make lunches, but it's deeper than that.”
Barnes said if they decide to pull out of the programme then maybe that is the price they have to pay to ensure their kids are fed.
“We’ve got to have a fully sustainable lunch programme. We had a very good provider before, called Lunch with Crunch. I mean, we’d have to pay for it, but maybe that’s the price we pay to make sure our kids are fed.”
On Thursday, a Huntly school became the first to suspend the Government’s revamped school lunch programme due to what it said was the “substandard quality of the meals”.
The principal of Kimihia School Pamela Dunn said the lunches would be suspended from Friday until further notice.
Instead, the school is now asking parents to ensure students bring their own lunches to school.
The School Lunch Collective has been approached for comment.