North Fulton County

Mother says school didn't feed child specially prepared food on field trip

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — A Sandy Springs mother said her special needs child wasn't fed during a recent school field trip, even after she sent a prepared meal that's critical to keeping her child out of the hospital.

Tonia Parker told Channel 2’s Nicole Carr that her child's medical needs are no secret and what happened Tuesday is the latest in a series of issues she's had pertaining to her daughter's  special needs being met at Sandy Springs Charter Middle School.

The 6th grader suffers from a number of conditions, including bowel obstruction.

Now the school system said this basically ties back to how the student's needs were communicated.

“Everything that Kaylee eats -- fruits, vegetables -- they are gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, dye-free down to the seasoning," Parker said.

Parker told Carr it costs $700 a month to keep her daughter Kaylee on a gluten-free diet.

The sixth-grader suffers from a number of conditions, including bowel obstruction.

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“Kaylee has a lot of challenges before her,” Parker said.

Medical records show Kaylee’s condition has led to recent seizures and surgery.

But last week, Parker said her daughter's school ignored her needs.

"Like, who can sit there and watch every other kid eat and not feed this kid and feel OK with themselves?" Parker said.

Because the sponsored food provided to students on a field trip did not cater to special diets.

Parker packed and sent a gluten-free lunch with Kaylee and emailed a teacher that morning to ensure it was microwaved during the trip.

The meal came back home with Kaylee.

“The food that I sent was exactly how I'd sent it and she hadn't eaten,” Parker said.

"She said, ‘Well I hope your mom packed your snacks because I don't know how we're supposed to warm your food,’” Kaylee said is what her teacher told her.

“So then I was trying to put myself in Kaylee's place and watching all these other kids eat and then she's just left there," Parker told Carr.

A representative for Fulton County Schools told Carr that Parker's 8:23 a.m. email wasn't sent in time to make proper arrangements for Kaylee's food.

The representative told Carr they would have warmed it before the students left because teachers did not have access to the commercial warmer on the field trip site.

Parker said there's no excuse for the fact that her child came home hungry.

“To me it's an insult and it's a travesty,” Parker said.

The school system said they're in the middle of meetings with Parker to talk about communicating Kaylee's medical needs.

Parker said she's filing a number of complaints and is hoping to get her child transferred to a school that better handles Kaylee's medical and nutritional needs.