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Unopened food tossed out due to regulations

Schools cannot take back or redistribute food once it leaves the hands of nutritional service and staff, according to David Smith, chief of staff for Kansas City.

KANSAS CITY, Kan.—At a school where a teacher says too many kids go hungry, hundreds of pounds of unopened food are being thrown away in a dumpster each week.

“I’ve been teaching here for 10 years and it’s a pretty common practice for a student to come in asking if I have anything to eat,” said Paul Richardson, a summer school teacher at Schlagle High School.

Richardson noticed something disturbing Monday morning as he was glancing out his window.

“It was shocking to me that there’s a pile of non-perishable food at the bottom of the dumpster,” said Richardson.

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