$42,000 worth of electric cookware used in CMS pre-K classrooms were fire hazards

Hundreds of electric skillets and toaster ovens that Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools sent to pre-kindergarten classrooms turned out to be fire hazards, CMS said Tuesday.

The district spent nearly $42,000 on 180 skillets and 180 toaster ovens, spokeswoman Renee McCoy said by email. Unopened utensils will be returned to Lowe’s for refunds, she said, but it’s unknown how many that totals.

Those that have been opened will be used in CMS’ culinary and home living classes that are held in kitchen-equipped classrooms.

Cooking is part of the Creative Curriculum that CMS has adopted for pre-K instruction, McCoy said. The Creative Curriculum is a “comprehensive, research-based curriculum that features exploration and discovery as a way of learning,” CMS says in its online description.

Schools with Bright Beginnings pre-K classrooms were provided with the skillets and toaster ovens last summer to support that curriculum, CMS pre-K director Melody Greenhouse told elementary and pre-K principals in a March 25 memo.

The Bright Beginnings program is in 53 CMS elementary schools. It serves 2,800 four-year-olds who are at risk of failing to meet North Carolina’s academic performance standards, CMS says. Children are eligible if their family income is 75 percent or less of the state median income.

Greenhouse’s memo told elementary and pre-K principals to box up the cookware.

“Currently, the Mecklenburg County Fire Marshal’s Office has notified CMS that these items are safety hazards and must be removed from pre-K classrooms,” she wrote. “All pre-K classrooms should discontinue the use of these items immediately.”

No fires were reported, McCoy said.

CMS will provide alternative recipes for the Creative Curriculum, Greenhouse wrote.

This story was originally published April 9, 2019 at 2:42 PM.