Kids at Sacramento school moved inside after outcry over tarp-covered lunchroom area
UPDATE: Following our story on Tuesday, the school decided to move the kids inside for during their lunch break. Watch Hunter Sowards' update tonight in the CBS13 News at 10 p.m.
You can read the original story below.
SACRAMENTO — There is outrage from Cesar Chavez Elementary School parents who say their children have been forced to eat lunch outside for months under a makeshift tarp held together by zip ties.
Maria Vargas said she has repeatedly gone to school staff asking for a safer solution so kids can be kept out of the rain.
"My daughter has mentioned that there are kids that get wet when it's raining outside because they do keep them outside while it's raining," Vargas said. "That's even though we were told that they were going to get taken into a class in the rain."
Construction began in June 2023 to build a brand-new state-of-the-art campus at the site of Edward Kemble Elementary and Cesar Chavez Intermediate School. Thanks to money from Measure H, passed by voters in 2020, the funds will go toward creating the Sacramento City Unified School District's first new school constructed in 20 years, according to the district.
Parents say that despite questioning school leaders about when kids could return to an indoor cafeteria, they feel they are being ignored.
We reached out to the school district, showing them photos of the outdoor tarps and asking for a response to worried parents. Brian Heap, chief communications officer, responded with this statement:
"Last Spring, SCUSD broke ground on a new campus that will merge Cesar Chavez and Edward Kemble into one state of the art school, set to open in September 2025. We have always known there would be challenges with conducting school operations during the construction, and a lack of cafeteria space is a challenge that we are continuing to address."
We read the response to nearly 30 parents who joined a CBS13 Zoom interview about the current lunch situation. Yesenia Jones, the parent of a fifth grader, said she appreciated leaders validating their concerns but the response did not go far enough to explain what the district is doing to address the immediate problem.
"One, we want the timeline, and two, we want to know specifically what the intervention is because this isn't a solution. It's not going to get anything done," Yesenia Jones said.
In a June 2023 press release, SCUSD Superintendent Jorge A. Aguilar praised plans to focus on rebuilding a new school at this specific location, saying:
"The construction of the new Kemble/Chavez Elementary and Intermediate Schools is a direct reflection of the District's unwavering commitment to equity and improving the outcomes of students who have been historically underserved."
Some parents we spoke to say they feel the campus' location is actually the reason they are being ignored. Cesar Chavez Elementary is a dual emergent school, teaching classes in both English and Spanish.
"The attention is lost due to the demographic of the school; we are obviously majority Hispanic and African American. It's a Title One school. I think a lot of times it's out of sight, out of mind," said Brice Jones, the father of a fifth-grade student.
In response to the district's statement, Jones said it is still not enough to ensure changes are made to protect the safety of students.
"It's a politically correct response, It's an easy response when their child is not the one living this," Jones said.
Other parents voiced frustration that the school promised they would move the children indoors during inclement weather, saying the district "broke promises."
"They are very frustrated. Some of them have mentioned about taking their kids completely out of school," Vargas said.
We asked the district to provide a timeline for how long students would be asked to eat outside. They said they did not have further comment outside of their initial response.