Families Say Virginia Middle School Running Out of Food at Lunch

Families say a school running out of food at lunch has been an ongoing issue in Winchester, Virginia.

Tonya Arnold said it was lunchtime at Frederick County Middle School when she got a text from her son Wednesday.

“He was like, ‘Mom, they’re out of food at school,’” she said. “Obviously, that hurts my little mom heart.”

Her son told her all he got was apple slices and one sausage. Her husband was able to take more food to him at school.

Arnold said the situation should never have happened.

“If they’re hungry, they’re just not being taken care of,” she said.

Frederick County Public Schools told News4 the school served a popular breakfast-for-lunch menu Wednesday, and they did run out of some foods because students in earlier lunch periods took large servings. FCPS said the cafeteria still had other foods left.

“Ensuring all students have access to healthy school meals has been, and remains, a priority for Frederick County Public Schools,” the school district said. “We apologize to the students and families impacted by the unfortunate situation at Frederick County Middle School earlier this week.”

“There have been no instances when food has not been available to students,” the school district said.

One student told News4 that’s not true.

“I had to go back and put my tray back,” said Abie Tenney, who went to Frederick County Middle School last year. “I was like, Wow, there’s nothing to eat.”

She said the cafeteria ran out of food often and sometimes she asked her teacher to share his lunch or she would order meals on DoorDash.

“Sometimes I just didn’t eat anything for lunch,” Abie said. “It was hard to pay attention more. I know many of my friends, it was the same way. They hated how it was; they were hungry all the time.”

Arnold said now sends her kids to school with snacks and hopes they never have to go hungry again.