INSIDE
4 Is there a smell of compromise in Richmond?
12 Son steps into father’s football coaching cleats
9 Like children, puppies need to be socialized
VOL. 29 | NUM. 48
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FEBRUARY 2, 2018
Cheese sandwiches make return after mounting meal debt
A SURPRISE FROM DAD
» BY TRACY BELL
tbell@insidenova.com
The modified lunch, which consists partly of a cheese sandwich, will make a comeback in Stafford County Public Schools now that meal debt is hovering above $32,000. The Stafford County School Board unanimously agreed to bring back the modified-lunch system Feb. 1, with a 10-day grace period for students who can’t pay for lunches, after which the modified meal would be required. The modified meal consists of a cheese sandwich, a piece of fruit and a small container of milk. “I would hesitate to recommend that we stay with what we are doing now,” said Berkley Dunbrack, the director of school nutrition at the school division. SCPS has more than $32,000 in meal-plan debt as of Dec. 31, 2017, he said. A pilot plan that aimed to avoid lunch shaming failed when families began to take advantage of the plan, which did not have consequences when students could not pay for their lunches. Instead, all students were fed a traditional lunch, whether or not they could pay. But the school nutrition department saw its debt triple after the program kicked off. “The meal is really the thing we can do to get some action out of the parents,” Dunbrack said. School board member Holly Hazard, Hartwood District, told Dunbrack: “I know that the [nutrition] office works with people and I want to extend that, but I also feel we have been taken advantage of.” Dunbrack agreed, noting that he could think of a couple of students whom he’s served more than 50 modified meals.
Park Ridge Elementary School fourth-grader Katie Mount thought she and fellow students were at a class assembly Monday to pick the winner of a package of treats. The treat turned out to be that her father, Chief Warrant Officer Brent Mount, dropped in from his deployment in Afghanistan for a visit with the 9-year-old. His presence took her aback momentarily and soon both hugged, and tears of happiness began to flow. “It was the best thing I’ve had happen in a while, so I’m glad I did it,” Mount said of his visit. ALEKS DOLZENKO/INSIDENOVA
Flu going strong in Stafford » BY TRACY BELL
P
tbell@insidenova.com
otentially dangerous bouts of the flu are rampant this winter across the nation and Stafford County is no exception. “It truly is a bad season across the board and it’s not just the flu; it’s higher acuity sick people as well,” said Cindy Hearrell, the nurse manager for Stafford Hospital’s emergency department.
Hearrell said that the emergencyroom staff is seeing a higher volume of patients with respiratory issues as well as gastrointestinal symptoms. “People feel wiped out, like they got run over by a truck,” Hearrell added, noting that “self-care management is the key.” Hearrell said that in most cases, selfcare and prevention will come first, then a visit to a primary care provider for the flu. A visit to a hospital emergency room
may be in order if a patient can’t shake the illness or has an abnormally high fever or continuous vomiting, she said. Treating the symptoms at home as much as possible is best, Hearrell said, noting that sometimes patients are better off staying out of the emergency room due to the amount of contagious sick patients as well as limited bed space.
SANDWICHES » PAGE 2
FLU » PAGE 2
Seyed M Hashemi, MD, FACC
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STAFFORD COUNTY SUN
Dr. Hashemi, cardiologist has opened his new office in Stafford on 610! 243 Garrisonville Rd. Suite 101 Stafford, VA 22554 Phone: 540 440 7001 or 703 490 3700
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