The following are the recent happenings in Yokohama City, as I picked from the message board maintained by Yokohama City Assemblyman Masataka Ota, who's been fighting to remove contaminated food items including cesium beef from children's school lunches.
Contaminated beef:
While the City fed kindergarteners and school children with domestic beef contaminated with radioactive cesium despite protests from the concerned parents, the cafeteria at Yokohama City Hall for the city employees and guests were serving beef imported from Australia.
6 elementary schools served radioactive beef 5 times, and 22 schools served it 4 times.
Radioactive summer school:
The City is determined to keep sending school children to the summer school in an elevated radiation area in Gunma Prefecture. The officials insist it is safe, because they are told it's safe. Never mind that nearby locations have levels like 0.50 microsievert/hour (official), and a citizen measured as high as 1.26 microsievert/hour in the very area that the children may go to.
Bringing water bottles to schools:
At least one (but there seem to be many) school allows children to carry water bottles if they want, but they have to leave their bottles in the school principal's office, and when they want to drink water they must come to the principal's office to drink.
This is bullying and harassment of children by the school principal. Quite an education.
Altering the official document:
The City's Board of Education has relented somehow to parents and the legislators like Mr. Ota and issued a notice to the parents whose children go to the public elementary schools in Yokohama City, telling them to consult their schools individually if they want to send their children to school with homemade lunch and water bottle. The hitch is that this notice were issued through schools. Some schools decided to white out the part about homemade lunch and water bottle, and added the contact information for the Board of Education if the parents have any questions.
Testing food items in school lunches:
Oh yes finally the City is doing, but one item per day. Apparently, the City informs the lunch preparation centers which food item is to be tested on a particular day.
One positive thing:
Some parents are actually yanking their children from schools, and have started home schooling.