By Glenn Hicks

Is it the end of the microwave in school classrooms?

Mar 21, 2018 | 3:00 PM

Some parents aren’t happy about microwave ovens vanishing from school classrooms and corridors, but a local education official said it’s a fire safety concern.

However, there seems to be confusion regarding whether microwaves should be banned from classrooms under current fire code regulations. paNOW has heard from several parents who said the removal of the appliances has seriously restricted lunch options for their children.

“It’s crazy,” one parent said on social media. “My son gets tired of sandwiches every day. It was great to send him with supper leftovers the next day.”

Another parent said the microwave ovens “gave so many better healthy choices than sandwiches every day.”

We also heard from one “extremely annoyed” parent who said taking the appliances out of classrooms was “going a bit far.” She said her kids now only have sandwiches, crackers, meat and cheese for lunch, and wondered how often microwaves were responsible for fires in school classrooms,

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That was a question paNOW put to Prince Albert Fire Chief Jason Everitt, who said the department hasn’t heard any concerns about microwaves in classrooms.

“Most of the time the schools are very diligent in making sure any electrical appliances they use are rated for that application,” he said.

Everitt said he didn’t know of any fire departments targeting microwaves in school classrooms, as they don’t fall under the National Fire Code.

“What we’re mandated to enforce are those provisions laid out in the National Fire Code of Canada, and currently there are no provisions in the code that would prohibit microwaves being in use in classrooms,” he said.

Everitt was, however, keen to point out that his department works with school divisions as part of their fire safety and inspections to ensure proper protocols for the use of the appliances as “children can sustain steam burns if they overheat food in microwaves.”

paNOW also contacted the Sask.Public School Division for comment. Director of Education Robert Bratvold said in an e-mail that “local fire inspectors have been working to support schools and ensure safety for years and microwaves are an area of fire safety that has drawn attention, especially in the last year.”

Bratvold said the school division was working towards meeting expectations outlined in a Ministry of Education document called School Fire Safety. That provincial document, compiled by Emergency Management and Fire Safety, states “cooking appliances cannot be used in classrooms or hallways. Microwaves, hot plates and other cooking appliances must be used only in rooms or areas set aside for cooking.”

The document also covers several other aspects of fire risk, such as decorative materials used on classroom walls and ceilings, proper use of electrical equipment and extension cords as well as lamps and furnishings.

Despite the apparent inconsistency between the National Fire Code and what the province wants schools to do, reactions from parents to the removal of the microwaves was not all negative. Some of the comments we received through social media suggested microwaved food was lacking in nutrition and indicated the appliances posed a hygiene issue. One person said there had been “numerous close calls” with microwave use in the classroom, while another pointed to the long lines of students waiting for access to already over-used microwaves during lunch.

Whatever the sentiment, as microwaves continue to disappear from school classrooms it seems parents are going to need to get more creative with their kids’ cold lunch offerings.   

glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow