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Parents at a public school in the city’s southwest are angry their children are being forced to watch cartoons on Netflix during lunch, saying the supervision is spotty, kids are placed in front of a screen in the classroom and unable to visit with friends.

“I was very surprised when my son told me this was happening, and it appears that lunch supervisors are only roaming in and out of the classrooms once in awhile, leaving the kids alone,” said Roxanne Dunlop, whose son attends Grade 2 at William Reid Elementary in Elbow Park.

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“We, as parents, are already trying to reduce our children’s screen time. So to have this happening, while we are paying $28 a month for lunchroom supervision, it just isn’t right.”

Dunlop raised her concerns in several emails to administrators and trustees at the Calgary Board of Education over a week ago, but did not hear back until Wednesday.

A CBE administrator told Dunlop in an email the school’s principal is responsible for the supervision of lunchroom staff and may not have been aware students were watching Netflix.