School cafeterias make the grade, latest health department inspections show

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As children in Northeast Florida head back to school this week and next, News4Jax dug into our local schools’ latest cafeteria inspections.

Inspections are conducted by each county’s health department. In some counties, inspections are at random in a rotating cycle. In others, like St. Johns County, inspections are carried out monthly during the regular school year. Here’s how four local counties stacked up, according to their latest reports.

Duval County School District

The latest inspection in the district occurred at Oaks Elementary School’s cafeteria on July 16. The cafeteria was cited for holding carrots two weeks after the use-by date, improperly thawing ham (without running water), and failure to maintain facilities due to rainwater leaking from the ceiling.

However, the conditions were found to be satisfactory overall. No follow-up inspection was required.

Find your school’s latest inspection by opening this link.

St. Johns County School District

The last time St. Johns County school cafeterias were inspected was in June. Many schools had perfect score, but not all.

The locations with reported violations were minor. For example, Crookshank Elementary was cited for dented canned good and improper lighting in the food prep area.

All St. Johns County district cafeterias were found to be satisfactory. The next inspections are likely to be in September.

Clay County School District

The latest public school inspection in Clay County occurred July 6 at the Montclair Elementary summer food site. Not a single violation was observed, according to its report.

It was the same perfect score for a school district food truck that was inspected on July 13. Summer inspections at Wilkinson Elementary and S Bryan Jennings Elementary were also clear.

The Clay County Health Department inspects school cafeterias three times a year.

Find all of Clay County Schools past cafeteria inspections here.

Nassau County School District

Meanwhile, Nassau County’s school district hasn’t been inspected since September 2020.

When I called Nassau County Food Services, I spoke with a representative who said the health department conducts inspections at random and was not sure when or if inspections would occur again anytime soon.

I left several messages with the Nassau County Health Department earlier this week, but have not heard back. However, during last year’s inspections, all 16 of its schools received satisfactory scores. Find those reports here.

More

Here are links to inspection reports for more public school cafeteria inspections in Northeast Florida.

Bradford County:

https://www.bradfordschools.org/domain/44

Columbia County:

http://www.columbiak12.com/food-services-09d217e3

Putnam County:

http://www.schoolnutritionandfitness.com/index.php?page=cupg2&sid=2011131651352108

Union County:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1of8lumpkkgq-3oYJgw5ga1Vlq1cUO1zh