Argh. Most Schools Don't Give Courtesy Lunches

[sandnsea]

"With the new policy, the school district has collected just over $50,000 from parents since the beginning of the year. It also identified 2,000 students eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunches, and more children in the lunch program means more federal dollars for the district.

School officials said the policy was under consideration for some time and parents were notified last fall. Families with unpaid charges are reminded with an automated phone call each night and notes are sent home with children once a week.

Swift added that the cheese sandwiches — about 80 of the 46,000 meals the district serves daily — can be considered a "courtesy meal," rather than an alternate meal.

Some districts, she noted, don't allow children without money to eat anything."

I never went to a school, nor did any of my kids, not in CA, OR, WA, MT, NV or AR, that gave a child free lunches if they didn't bring money OR call and advise of financial difficulties.

If you care about kids who don't get food, you need to check what the policy is in YOUR DISTRICT and stop beating up on this district that is trying to get the money necessary to continue providing lunches while caring enough to feed every child a nutritious meal every day.


http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hDP446Ba13sNbWhtzAaol9mKK-6wD96IHFMO0

[Venceremos]

1. Illinois here

our school district has had the cheese sandwich courtesy meal program since the early 1990s. So I was surprised to find this is a new (and apparently controversial) subject.

[barb162]

62. My SD has "a cereal bowl and milk" as a courtesy, then bills the parent.

It's a fairly wealthy school district and the parent gets charged afterward as ff:
"The student will be asked to sign a note that they received the “Courtesy Lunch”. The cost of the meal will be $1.25 and a note that is signed by the student, will be placed in the Teacher’s mailbox to be sent home. Our Food Service Team will collect the money and track payments made."

No concept of "free" in my neck of the woods. Then again when the parents pick up the kids in the Mercedes or BMW, they're expected to pay up.

[Occam Bandage]

2. The concept of a "courtesy meal" is very sad. nt

[sandnsea]

3. No. The concept of starving children is very sad.

What's your district's policy?

[Occam Bandage]

4. You misunderstand.

The fact that feeding children is considered a "courtesy" is sad.

[sandnsea]

6. The fact that parents don't make sure their kids are fed

is sad. The school providing a free lunch because the parents have completely failed to do so, is, in fact, a "courtesy". They don't have to do it. They are doing it because they care. They care more than the folks on this board who have NO CLUE what the policy is in their own district. When you make sure your district is providing a hot lunch to every kid, then you've got room to bitch about this NM district.

[Occam Bandage]

8. Children should not be shamed as a method of pressuring parents to pay their bills.

[sandnsea]

10. What does your district do? n/t

[Occam Bandage]

13. Taxpayer-funded lunches. Now:

Children should not be shamed as a method of pressuring parents to pay their bills. Do you agree or disagree?

[sandnsea]

17. Children are not being shamed, they're being fed

Are they being fed in your district?

[Occam Bandage]

26. They are being shamed and fed. It is not mutually exclusive.

I already answered yes to your bizarre and unrelated question.

[TBF]

19. You and I agree on this one. And before the OP asks, I know exactly

what they do at my daughter's elementary school. If it's someone who regularly eats they remind them to tell their parents to pay. This happened to me last week - I have an auto set-up on the on-line account, but it ended at the end of January. When she came home and said the lunch lady told her she needed more money, I immediately reset it online, added enough to get through the year, and that was it. I know the "official policy" is that they get a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, but that is up to the lunch ladies to enforce. My daughter got her normal lunch.

It's absolutely shameful to see so many "democrats" on this site ready to lynch parents for something that is most likely a simple mistake (who spends their days thinking about a lunch money account - I sure don't). When it's not a mistake, and perhaps something has happened (like losing a job) and they haven't gotten in to fill out the free lunch forms yet, give them a f-ing break already.

I could swear I'm in freeperville reading some of these OPs today. Just embarrassing.

[sandnsea]

22. Exactly, they work with parents who normally pay

This policy is focused at parents who just aren't paying and what they've discovered is that many of them will apply for the lunch programs if they have to. They've gotten 2,000 kids on those programs be implementing this policy and they need to because they have to get the food money.

What are you doing to change the policy in your district?

[TBF]

24. What exactly would you prefer it be changed to? n/t

[sandnsea]

27. Everybody gets free lunch, right?

I don't see any other solution if free sandwiches are unacceptable.

Point is, if the policy is so outrageous, why haven't YOU changed it in YOUR school since you care so much.

[Occam Bandage]

36. This is the worst argument ever:

"You are not qualified to post your opinion on an opinion board if you have not yet succeeded in single-handedly altering an educational funding structure in the school district nearest you."

[TBF]

39. Try changing something in Texas. :) Actually it didn't concern me at

all because I know everybody gets fed in our schools. But I have to admit you raise a good point & I wonder if all schools in Texas are as generous as my daughters. I accused you of not doing research, but I've got a little of my own to do.

[sandnsea]

46. That's all I'm saying

Before we attack this school in NM, that is at least trying and has gotten 2,000 kids on reduced or free lunch programs, we better remember there are a lot of schools who don't give the kids anything and those are the ones we should worry about first.

We just cut our budget $400,000 and that meant cutting 15 teachers and support staff. This district is losing half that on unpaid lunches. Collecting the money from the federal lunch program means more teachers on the payroll. It's that simple.

[Lost in CT]

59. the lunches are taxpayer funded.... nt

[Lost in CT]

60. DUPE

[Orrex]

11. Exactly correct.

To say otherwise is akin to advocating for mandatory child labor.

[Stellabella]

15. Exactly.

Thank you.

[Baikonour]

28. Indeed.

Anyone not willing to pay more taxes for public school funding so children can actually eat is despicable in my book.

[sandnsea]

32. These children DO get to eat, MOST DON'T

Where did I say I was against paying taxes so kids could eat?

I said MOST DON'T GET ANYTHING. nothing.

Why don't people get in a tizz about the kids who really ARE starving at lunchtime?

[Occam Bandage]

41. Why are you in a "tizz" about people arguing about school lunches

and not about the kids who really ARE starving in Eritrea?

[Orrex]

45. That's clearly a false dichotomy, even if you have me on big fat Ignore

According to you, we must either worry about kids being humiliated or kids starving.

No middle ground, then? How very convenient for you.

[Baikonour]

50. Where did I say YOU were the one against paying taxes for food?

No child SHOULD be starving at lunch time. Nor should feeding children be a courtesy, as Occam said. All food programs in public schools should NOT be run by private enterprises unless they are being paid through tax dollars. This not always the case. If a private school wants to hire a food and dining service to supply their students with food and at the same time charge their parents for it, so be it.

A lot of the public schools in America fail to even provide children with a decent education. They can at least supply them with a decent meal.

[sandnsea]

53. But children ARE starving at lunch time

Because many schools stop giving lunches after 3 days or whatever the policy is. That should be the complaint, not when the school IS providing a lunch.

Our school just had a $400,000 budget cut for the rest of the year. They had to cut 15 teachers and support staff. The NM district is owed $180,000 for lunches. That's a lot of teachers to provide that decent education. That's all they're trying to do, get the parents to sign up for the programs so they can get the federal money and don't have to make up these losses by firing teachers.

[Baikonour]

55. Then the real problem here is why schools are not receiving proper funding.

Because as I said, all public schools should be able to provide all their students with good food of equal quality.

Edit: Also, are you as up in arms over schools firing teachers to save money too? Or do you not care about the quality of education, just the quality of lunch food?

[sandnsea]

56. Oh hell I'm in the middle of a Levy Fight in my town

and losing clients and friends over it.

The reason they are not getting federal money to cover the cost of food is because the parents are not applying for it. In addition, the lunch applications are used to get additional Title I money, so they lose that too if the parents don't apply.

Once again, I'm the one that knows what I'm talking about but some members on DU just can't stand to be shown to be fools so they beat the hell out of me instead.

[Orrex]

5. These schools should feed these 'children without money' without making a big goddamn fuss about it

And they should discretely settle up with the family afterwards. There is absolutely no reason not to do this. None.

A "courtesy meal" is readily identifiable as a big red flag with "POVERTY" stamped on it; subjecting these children to such a stigma is no courtesy.

[sandnsea]

7. Does your district?

Answer please.

[Orrex]

9. How is that relevant? Answer, please.

But as a matter of fact, the answer is yes.

[sandnsea]

12. Yes they give cheese sandwiches?

Yes they feed kids for free indefinitely?

Yes what?

[Orrex]

14. Again, how is the policy of my district relevant?

I can't cite verse and chapter for you, but here's how it goes:

No child will be denied lunch because he or she didn't bring money. Some settlement with the family will follow, though I admit that I don't know what they'd do if a kid failed to pay for a protracted period of time; I also have no reason to believe that this is a frequent problem, if it occurs at all.


Explain to me how the policy of my district is relevant. And then explain why a child should be publicly humiliated just because his parents either couldn't or didn't provide lunch money for him or her.

[sandnsea]

16. Don't tell me you give a shit,

when you haven't cared enough to even know whether kids in your own district are going hungry or not. Easy to tsk tsk tsk on a message board, especially when many people on this board live in districts that spend $12,000+ per kid and don't have a clue whether every kid is getting a lunch of not. Harder to go to a $6,000 per kid district and tell them they have to do more than the $12,000 district does.

New Castle PA?

http://www.ncasd.com/site/

I cannot even find an application, or any mention, of free and reduced lunches on this web site.

[Orrex]

18. That sounds an awful lot like you're calling me out, you fuckhead

On edit: I'm sorry, I meant

That sounds an awful lot like you're calling me out, you chickenshit fuckhead.


Thanks for letting me clarify that.



And you still haven't explained how the policies of my district--as you fail to understand them--are relevant.

[ContinentalOp]

20. LOL. Best clarification EVER! -nt-

[sandnsea]

23. Oh Yes. Repeatedly. With no response from you

because you don't know the school policy because you don't REALLY give a shit whether kids eat because YOU are the chickenshit fuckhead.

[Orrex]

31. So, the best you can offer is 'I know you are, but what am I?'

Not that it's relevant or any of your business, but the policy was covered in detail on orientation day, prior to the start of the school year.

The application for the free lunch program is available in each school's main office, and is available by mail from the food service department.

[sandnsea]

40. No, the best I can offer is a big fat ignore n/t

[Orrex]

42. Not only are you a chickenshit fuckhead

You clearly can't hang, either.

[TBF]

21. I've read through these answers and watched you beat up people

about whether they know their district's policy. Before you assume that "most" schools don't have a policy, why don't you do some research? Have you looked up every district in the country in order to make your assumption?

What a ridiculous and mean-spirited OP.

[sandnsea]

25. Well no, I know that most schools DO have a policy

And that most of the idiots on this board don't give a shit about anything except their liberal creds.

The ridiculous and mean-spirited thing is that kids don't get lunch every day at schools, and they're worried about the kid who DOES get a sandwich.

Sorry, they're idiots.

[Occam Bandage]

30. So people are idiots if they comment on one particular problem,

because there are other problems elsewhere in the country that are more important. Yes, I think you've got a very good case there. May I ask why you're talking about school lunches in America when people are dying by the thousands of starvation, malaria, and AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa? And what you are doing to solve this problem?

[Orrex]

37. Careful--she'll attack you for not knowing the school lunch policies of sub-Saharan Africa

[nadinbrzezinski]

43. THis is duzy worthy, really

you owe me a monitor


:-)

(Not really, but still laughing)

[sandnsea]

49. Kids who have no food are soooo funny n/t

[Occam Bandage]

52. No, but your bizarre outrage at people who don't like shaming kids for cash is. nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

54. Actually if you have bothered reading what I have posted all day about this

you'd realize that what outrages me is folks like you, with the faux outrage

Yours, not all schools give free lunches, so why make a peep if kids get a free lunch regardless of the social shaming

Others, its the other side of the coin, the libertarian crap that has been flying like poo all day

By the way you can thank Truman fer the damn fucking program and if you ask me, I will gladly pay MY TAXES to make sure that every kid gets a hot lunch every day regardless of economic condition

I will also gladly pay taxes to get national health care

So stuff it,

Faux outrage gets old fast... and you are flinging poo like your libertarian counterparts

Oh and by the way, his answer is still DUZY worthy

[sandnsea]

57. Right, not all schools give free lunches

That's my entire point. Why no upset over the schools who let the kids starve?

I don't care if they provide a nice full lunch like they do in France, not my point and never has been.

The point is that if these people care soooo much about starving kids, the they bygod might want to find out what the policy is in their own district because they might discover kids aren't being fed anything at all if they don't bring money. I DO NOT APPROVE OF THAT.

[nadinbrzezinski]

58. And that is known in logic as a red herring

google it up

Some of us are looking at this from the POLICY PERSPECTIVE, where ACCORDING TO THE LEGISLATION TRUMAN SIGNED, those lunches should be provided PERIOD.

The fact they no longer are, is the damn problem, or when they are they are used to shame kids

GET IT NOW.

Faux outrage at people who look at this at a policy level

Gee golly

Since not everybody has access to medical care we should be happy some do... same logic... and with the same long term results

And with that good luck in the poo flinging department

[sandnsea]

61. "The fact they no longer are, is the damn problem"

Hello? Shall we repeat that, "The fact they no longer are, is the damn problem"

GET IT NOW.

If you don't like the application system, CHANGE It.

But don't give ME your faux outrage over free sandwiches, fruit and milk.

[sandnsea]

38. This problem? Oh yes, this is stupid

This is the classic only the liberal left could complain because kids are being fed for free. Has nothing to do with Africa and you know it. Nobody will pick up a phone and do anything about their local district, just bitch, bitch, bitch.

[Occam Bandage]

44. So your argument now is that people are posting on a message board instead of engaging in activism.

An argument which you make by posting on a message board, and which you make instead of engaging in activism. You're just full of good arguments!

[sandnsea]

48. No, I'm saying people don't know what the hell they're talking about

That's what I'm saying. To get to the point.

[Occam Bandage]

51. I'm sure most also don't know the current exchange rate between the dollar and the yuan,

and when you get down to it that affects them quite a bit more than school lunches do. What do either have to do with their opinion on whether schools should shame children to pressure parents to pay their bills?

[NavyDavy]

65. because we should be taking care of our children first, then worry about other

countries children.....its just the way I see it...

[Orrex]

33. I may or may not be an idiot, but you're clearly a chickenshit fuckhead

So your assesement of my intelligence and my involvement in my children's schooling is irrelevant.

[TBF]

34. No nothing to be sorry about -

I certainly mis-read your intentions then because your your heart is in the right place, and this is such a good statement: "the ridiculous and mean-spirited thing is that kids don't get lunch every day at schools, and they're worried about the kid who DOES get a sandwich."

[rebecca_herman]

29. Just give them the freaking regular meal...

When I went to school in the 90s there were tons of hot meal leftovers that just got wasted and THROWN IN THE TRASH. There was always plenty leftover when the last lunch period ended. Would it be so hard to just give kids the regular meal? Is giving them a grilled cheese or burger that will probably get thrown out later such a horrible waste of money?

[sandnsea]

35. Fine by me. What about the districts who give the kids NOTHING?

Where's the outrage about that?

[Occam Bandage]

47. And what about the AIDS rate in Swaziland? Where's your outrage about that?

[NavyDavy]

63. every school district I went to or my daughter has gone to offers

free lunches for low income families and even if my daughter falls behind they never refused to feed her

[sandnsea]

66. This school does too, the parent didn't apply

They give free lunches to any child who has applied, whether the paperwork is processed or not. This school district had 2,000 kids who were qualified for programs and hadn't turned in the paperwork.

They also give kids free lunches if they don't pay. The policy in some districts is 3 days, others it's $10.00, I know all I ever had to do was call my kids' school and tell them when I'd be able to pay. Point is, I made the effort to write a note or call.

These parents aren't doing ANY of this. The district is owed $180,000 in lunch money. Our district just cut 15 teachers and aides because we are short $400,000 because the levy didn't pass.

This school is just trying to get parents to make some basic efforts to get the free and reduced lunches they're entitled to, and notify the school if there are extenuating circumstances.

Many schools DO NOT do this. They don't provide any free lunches. None of my kids' school would do it if I didn't talk to them. This is a new and generous policy and I don't see why people are complainig about it.

[barb162]

64. I agree with your conclusion.

It appears to me that particular school district is doing a good job, if not almost bending over backward, making sure all of the kids get a lunch.