Deputy principal of School No. 9 blamed for school nutrition problems in Balashov
In Balashov (Saratov region, Russia), a deputy principal of one of the schools will be punished due to problems with school nutrition. This was reported on January 26 by the press service of the regional department of the agency. The prosecutor«s office is currently conducting an inspection of compliance with legislation in a number of educational institutions in Balashov.
As a result, violations of sanitary and epidemiological requirements, competitive procedures in determining contract prices, as well as the inclusion of inflated and unreasonable requirements for participants were found. In addition, the prosecutor«s office uncovered illegal actions by officials in allowing a specific commercial organization to participate in the procurement.
According to the prosecutors, this led to restricted competition in the bidding and the signing of a contract with a single supplier. A criminal case was opened against the deputy principal of one of the schools under Article 6.6 of the Code of Administrative Offenses on violation of sanitary and epidemiological norms in the organization of nutrition. According to a source in the law enforcement agencies of Balashov, it concerns the deputy principal of School No. 9 named after Pyotr Stolypin. The source did not specify exactly who was made the scapegoat.
Until recently, the deputy principals at the school were Andrei and Tatiana Selifonov, as well as Tatiana Smotrova. A submission has been made to the state authorities: Mikhail Zakharov heads the Balashov district. The collected materials have been sent to the Investigative Committee with the aim of initiating a criminal case on abuse of official authority.
On January 15, the principal of School No. 9, Andrei Ryzhkov, was dismissed after he refused to feed his students «rotten» food. Since January, free meals have been introduced in all schools in Balashov. The new winner of the tender for organizing school meals, from the Krasnodar Krai, cut the salaries of school cooks and began delivering products of questionable quality.
The old cooks refused to work for reduced salaries, and in some schools teachers were temporarily called in to replace them. However, Ryzhkov refused to force teachers to work in the kitchen instead of cooks and prohibited accepting poor-quality vegetables, after which he was fired. But the teacher was defended by all his colleagues and subordinates, as well as the parents of students — he had worked as the head of School No. 9 for more than 20 years. The scandal has reached the regional level.
State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin demanded a review of school meal rates, which have not been revised since 2020, with an increase of 1.5–2 times. The governor reprimanded the region«s Education Minister Alexander Pazhitnev. The prosecutor»s office began an inspection in Balashov schools, and the Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against the Krasnodar-based company that became the new organizer of school meals for providing services that do not meet safety requirements. The scandal has been raging for the second week already.
