'Our students deserve better than this. We will not back off'

As students returned to school this week, the free lunch programme, known as Ka Ora, Ka Ako, faced significant issues, including delivery delays and poor communication from the provider.

McAuley High School in Ōtāhuhu, one of those affected, believes the disruptions are unacceptable.

Principal Jan Waelen expressed frustration over the late delivery of lunches, which arrived just before school ended, and the need to purchase food locally to feed the students.

Deputy Principal Miles Sengers highlighted continued delays, saying the school was not informed about lunch arrivals.

The all-girls school was scheduled to receive the lunches at 10.45am on the first day (Wednesday), but the meals did not arrive until 2.30pm - just 30 minutes before the school day ended.

While the lunches were delivered on time on Thursday, the school was informed via email at 8am on Friday that lunch would again be late.

Waelen says Wednesday’s incident saw “200 girls waiting for meals. The food finally arrived at 2.30pm. School finishes at 3pm.

“When Miles first contacted them, they didn't even know. They thought we were starting the following week.

"Even though all our documentation and the online portal said we were starting on the 29th, they had no idea and had no meals planned for us," Waelen says of Wednesday’s incident.

Photo / PMN News Mary Afemata

Sengers says, “We were promised the truck was leaving the factory. It never arrived. We were promised again, but still nothing. By 1.30pm, we were told a woman was putting the food in her car and driving it over herself.”

He said the school had to purchase bananas and oranges from a local store to feed the girls, as they were unprepared for the delays.

Sengers said he received an email from the School Lunch Collective at 8am on Friday informing him that the lunches would be late but offering no details about the new delivery time.

“We had to buy 200 pies because we had no choice but to feed the girls. Meanwhile, our staff, who should be preparing lessons, are in the kitchen cooking,” he said.

The Collective, a partnership between Compass Group NZ, Libelle Group, and Gilmours, provides school lunches.

In May 2024, Associate Minister of Education David Seymour announced restructuring the school lunch programme.

By September 2024, the government centralised the model, moving from schools selecting their local suppliers to a government-chosen consortium. In October 2024, the Collective was awarded the $85 million annual contract to supply free school lunches.

Local democracy reporting was at the school when Sengers discovered that the lunches would not arrive on time again.

“The time now is 10.41am. Normal delivery time is 10:45. It’ll be here at 1pm.”

Seymour downplayed the concerns as “teething issues:” suggesting schools should be more patient.

The NZ Herald reported on Friday that Seymour rebuked frustrated principals for spending their money on student meals, suggesting they need to “take a step back.”

Seymour told ZB Newstalk,“ We’re doing something new and today is actually day five, day four in some places. So we gotta get a bit of a reality check.”

David Seymour defends the school lunch programme and says there will be teething issues. Photo/RNZ Dan Thomas

But Waelen said hungry students deserved better, adding that the contractor should fulfill its commitments.

“The reality is we’ve got kids without food. He [David Seymour] can say what he wants and call it teething issues, but it’s not okay when I’ve got hungry kids.

“Our students deserve better than this. We will not back off. Actually, I’m not backing off. I’m accepting all media calls because it’s unacceptable.

“These guys took on a contract. They promised they could do it. They should have been better.

“What other company can say, ‘Oh, sorry, we knew we’d have teething problems?’ That’s just not how life works. You have a contract - you honour it from the beginning.”

Both Waelen and Sengers said that their issue was not with the quality of the meals but with the logistics of delivery and communication.

Deputy Principal Miles Sengers and Principal Jan Waelen of McAuley High School call the lack of communication and precise logistics unacceptable. Photo/PMN News/Mary Afemata

They emphasised the importance of honouring contracts and delivering promises made to students.

They reported discrepancies between what was posted on the website and the information they received.

Sengers says, “It's fair to say that what was on the website, what we could see, was not what they were relaying back to us.

“So when we were saying ‘no, it says that we're starting today,’ they said we have it, and you're starting on Monday.

“I said, ‘No, and that's not the case. We've sent emails, and I have email returns,’ so there were mix-ups in the background definitely there.

“But we never sent documentation that said the 3rd of February,” Sengers said.

The school lunches were delivered on time Thursday, but students must return the aluminium containers, adding an extra step. Photo/PMN News Mary AfemataPhoto/RNZ Samuel Rillstone

The School Lunch Collective confirmed in a statement to Local Democracy Reporting that the ovens were not working at their Central Production Kitchen in Auckland in the early hours of Friday.

With a technical oven issue on Friday morning, Waelen says, “A technician was on-site at 7am. Why wasn't that technician on-site at 4am?”

She said before the changes, “We had a fantastic system here. The meals were great, the girls were happy, and everything was rolling along fine.”

Segner adds, “We had well organised logistics. Even if you weren't comparing the food, the logistics were just better. And people could do their actual jobs that they were employed for.

“Bottom line, a contract [is] like a treaty, I guess, it's a promise. And we're sort of expecting [them to deliver] on their promise.

“Don't take on a multi-million dollar contract if you actually can't get it sorted,” Waelen says.

The portal had incorrect information about delivery dates and McAuley Deputy Principal Miles Sengers spent hours trying to contact the School Lunch Collective to resolve the delivery issues. Photo/schoollunchcollective.co.nz

Sengers continues, “So we're doing our side, we're trying to. We said to our students, ‘We'll provide you [with] the food’. This is the promise that has been given to us. But we're getting let down.

“So I'm in the middle of writing an email now to the students, and then I'll follow up [with] something to the parents and say, ‘Look, right now we don't have confidence that the food is going to be supplied. We can't do 800 pies on Monday, so [the] girls are going to have to bring their [own] food until it's sorted.’”

Waelen adds, “That's not to say that we don't want [the] food in schools programme - we absolutely do. We absolutely want that programme. We absolutely think it is the right thing to be feeding students.

“Our parents have got huge costs at this time of year, setting up uniforms and stationery. Many of them will be depending on us feeding their kids. Last year, so many parents said it made such a difference.”

As Sengers navigates the school lunch situation amid communication and logistical challenges, he says, "We're always very student-centred and keeping it calm. We try to be factual, we try to be clear."

Students usually collect their lunches from the tuck shop, but an email was sent advising them that they may need to bring their own if teething problems affect deliveries again next week. Photo/PMN News Mary Afemata

"I'm still kind of fuming from what Jan has told me - that we've all been told to back off. What we're trying to do is give the students the respect that they deserve.

"That's the bottom line. They deserve to have their meal that is promised to them and not be told, 'Oh, you don't have your meal, just be quiet and go away, you know, be thankful for not having.' That, to me, is disrespectful - to our students and to anybody."

The School Lunch Collective said they experienced a technical problem with the ovens, which has now been resolved.

“Unfortunately, this means delays for Auckland schools in the school lunch programme, who are unlikely to receive their lunches on time,” the collective said in a statement.

“Affected schools were contacted directly to apologise and ensure tamariki received their lunches. Compass NZ delivered additional food to some schools, while others will be reimbursed for purchasing meals themselves.

The School Lunch Collective apologised to schools affected in Auckland because of their oven having technical issues. Photo/schoollunchcollective.co.nz

“The School Lunch Collective apologises to schools, students and parents impacted and remains committed to resolving teething issues experienced these first days.

“With over 127,000 meals being delivered around the country every school day, we are committed to supporting students' learning through the Healthy School Lunches Programme.”

This issue does not affect schools outside of Auckland.

Local Democracy Reporting sought to follow up on the logistical processes and communication problems, but Compass NZ declined to comment, providing only the statement released.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.