This year in Knox County Schools don’t dare bring a treat for your classmates. A small pack of candy as has been the custom for the long history of Valentines. Oh. No. Mrs. Sarah Simpson is not in charge at Knox County Schools. It is now Dr. Donna Wright’s turn and bringing small packets of candy for your friends on Valentines is a kin to given the keys of the car to a guy/woman that has had to much to drink.
Students are allowed and even encouraged to bring candy and treats for their teachers. But not for their friends, that according to school officials is in violation of a new policy that Dr. Wright and her Gestapo leader Mary Lou Henry passed to reduce sugar consumption by children. Children are the little subjects that Dr. Wright and former Morgan County Food Service Director Henry are trying to protect.
Food Service Director Henry the one that allowed some food commodities to expire in a freezer because she had such a good reign on her department. I am not talking about a box here or there, I am talking about a truckload here and a truckload there.
At first the policy prohibited you from any outside food, unless you packed in a lunchbox that morning. Like getting your child a Subway sandwich and bringing it or sending it to school for lunch was a NO NO. A Subway sandwich is far more healthy than Salisbury steak cooked in a school lunchroom. By September, they lifted that ban and if you go and purchase your child a lunch and bring it to school, like for a special day (Birthday) than that is O.k.
The only problem is this no/less sugar policy only applies to Elementary and Middle Schools. Why is that? Because the High Schools make a ton of money off their vending machines/school stores. Dr. Wright was not too long ago Principal of where? West High School. We are not going to rain on the petty cash funds of the high schools. Plus, try telling a kid two times the size of you as a teacher or administrator that they can not purchase something. It will be a lawsuit. And the school system is afraid of lawsuits, unless they file them against County Commission to ensure the great political debate continues to occur.
So, the Knox County School System decides to ruin a fun day a day when every kid can feel special by all their peers and take an opportunity to allow mom and dad to teach their children to eat treats in moderation.
But instead as the leaders of the Knox County School System they are just banning it, because we need our cafeterias to make a profit. How this affects the profit of a lousy operation is beyond me. But only the cafeterias of Elementary and Middle schools.
Brian’s Blog contacted School Board member Robert Bratton. He said “This is the worst public policy ever imposed on the public school system.” “This is the greatest threat to keeping parents involved and active in their Knox County School System.”
If you think that the policy banning treats on Valentines Day is ridiculous. Call Dr. Donna Wright at 865-594-1750 or email for Food Service Director Mary Lou Henry at 865-594-3640 or email
