Vermont School Says Cafeteria Plates Disappearing

A Vermont school district is trying to solve the problem of disappearing cafeteria plates.

Trash bins at the Mount Anthony Union High School in Bennington often have plates scattered around food and other discarded waste. The plates are disappearing quickly at the middle school, too.

The Bennington Banner reports just before the holiday break, the high school bought three 48-packs of hard plastic plates, bringing the plate inventory up to 212 in the cafeteria. After three weeks, that count was down to 60 plates. The loss cost the school $350.

Officials say the plastic plates cost less than using paper plates.

There’s an effort under way to educate students and teacher about returning plates at drop-off bins.

The school says the silverware is disappearing, too.