Pupils at a Perthshire eco-school were dismayed to see lunches served up on disposable plates last month.
Black bags filled with single-use plastics did not seem to tie in with the school’s green flag credentials the school worked hard to earn.
But staff shortages resulted in there not being kitchen staff available to wash dishes and disposable crockery being used instead.
The Eco-School green flag accreditation is awarded to schools championing environmental awareness in their school, local community and beyond.
Strathtay councillor Grant Laing raised the issue at last month’s meeting of Perth and Kinross Council on Wednesday, December 15,
He told councillors: “This week in my ward there was an incident where there was staff off ill or unavailable so they were using one-use plastic plates to feed the children.”
Cllr Laing was told staffing issues had led to disposable plates being used in “some isolated schools” for short periods of time.
Head of education and children’s services Sheena Devlin told the council: “Certainly during both periods of lockdown when hubs were operating and when schools returned there was a different approach undertaken for health and safety reasons in terms of how food was shared and distributed in classrooms.”
She added: “There have been some isolated schools that have been affected more heavily by staff absence. In order to ensure service delivery has been able to continue with a lighter than usual staff complement then disposable crockery has been used for a short period of time.
“Should that situation arise again then that’s what would happen to ensure service delivery continues.”
After the meeting one Dunkeld mum said it was the children themselves who were upset about it.
She said: “It’s just frustrating for the kids that it’s going backwards and they see these massive black bin bags going out of school.
“It’s a bit of a disconnect between the curriculum and what they are actually doing.”
Cllr Laing said: “It is time for the Tory administration to start grasping the nettle on the climate change emergency.
“The fact that due to staff shortages some children are using single use plastic crockery at school mealtimes does not show a desire to act or lead on this issue.”
A spokesperson for PKC this week said: “As a contingency measure in response to staffing levels, disposable plates were used. This ensured the continued provision of school meals to children and young people.”
