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Judi Lynn

(160,218 posts)
Fri May 10, 2019, 10:36 PM May 2019

'Lunch shaming': school district changes policy for students who owe meal debts

Source: Guardian


A controversial policy that would limit students to a simple sandwich drew widespread criticism against the Rhode Island

Adrian Horton
Fri 10 May 2019 02.00 EDT Last modified on Fri 10 May 2019 08.32 EDT

A Rhode Island school district, facing mounting lunch debts, has reversed a controversial policy announced earlier this week that would limit students owing money to the school to a sunflower-seed-butter-and-jelly sandwich.

The policy drew widespread criticism for “lunch shaming”, which critics say unfairly puts a child’s economic situation up for judgment in the notoriously ruthless social environment of the school cafeteria.

After Warwick public schools announced the policy, which was set to go into effect 13 May, the school’s Facebook page received more than 1,000 comments, most expressing outrage at the district publicly burdening students with unpaid lunch debts. The new rule would have required any student who owed money to Warwick public schools to forego other hot meal or a la carte options and instead have the cold sandwich until the money was repaid or a payment plan established.

The district walked back the policy Wednesday evening, with the school policy subcommittee “recommending that the Warwick school committee allow the students their choice of lunch regardless of their account status”, wrote Karen Bachus, chairwoman of the Warwick school committee, in a Facebook post.


Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/09/lunch-shaming-school-district-changes-policy-for-students-who-owe-meal-debts

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'Lunch shaming': school district changes policy for students who owe meal debts (Original Post) Judi Lynn May 2019 OP
Not sure why I am shocked by this. onecaliberal May 2019 #1
Why don't we just make lunch free of charge and be done with it? RandySF May 2019 #2
Absolutely. You go to school to learn. You can't do it when you're hungry. YOHABLO May 2019 #5
Because the food and staff have to be paid rpannier May 2019 #6
Our school district provides free breakfast & lunch to ALL students CottonBear May 2019 #9
My son's elementary school does that. Codeine May 2019 #11
they should regardless of income. do away with lunch tickets JI7 May 2019 #18
Poor kid, this is awful like a Dickens novel. Back to a workhouse? appalachiablue May 2019 #3
Yes, we're just about there. rusty quoin May 2019 #4
Free lunch for school kids. In the Pantheon of "wasteful" or expensive programs ... marble falls May 2019 #7
This! LuckyLib May 2019 #15
I'm pretty sure Turbineguy May 2019 #16
NO child should have to pay for lunch. Period. EarthFirst May 2019 #8
Seriously. The richest country on earth Codeine May 2019 #12
We have schools in Florida that do this...why don't poor kids apply for free lunch? Sancho May 2019 #10
don't give them less of a lunch, give them more of a lunch. demigoddess May 2019 #13
Just a reminder of what kids get for lunch in France LiberalLovinLug May 2019 #14
they need to just provide free meals to all kids JI7 May 2019 #17
Richest (allegedly) country in the world, and we can't (won't) feed people in need. Utter BS Evolve Dammit May 2019 #19
 

YOHABLO

(7,358 posts)
5. Absolutely. You go to school to learn. You can't do it when you're hungry.
Sat May 11, 2019, 02:20 AM
May 2019

Richest Country in the World? F...k Republicans.

rpannier

(24,304 posts)
6. Because the food and staff have to be paid
Sat May 11, 2019, 07:24 AM
May 2019

And the US has too many whiny, cheapskates who don't wanna pay a penny for anything that doesn't directly benefit them
It's depressing to think that a mere sixty years ago people like my grandfather and his siblings were talking about the importance of building for the future, so he was okay with taxes and such. And now people like my cousins snivel about paying for 'give aways to the poor.'

CottonBear

(21,596 posts)
9. Our school district provides free breakfast & lunch to ALL students
Sat May 11, 2019, 08:43 AM
May 2019

In addition, Pre-K to 5th grade after school programs provide a snack and drink to all children who attend.

 

Codeine

(25,586 posts)
11. My son's elementary school does that.
Sat May 11, 2019, 12:29 PM
May 2019

It’s just simpler and more equitable to give everyone free lunches. They get breakfast if they want one as well, though it’s usually a breakfast burrito or similar, which he hates.

JI7

(89,182 posts)
18. they should regardless of income. do away with lunch tickets
Sun May 12, 2019, 05:01 PM
May 2019

or whatever they have these days where parents have to prove they qualify.

appalachiablue

(41,054 posts)
3. Poor kid, this is awful like a Dickens novel. Back to a workhouse?
Fri May 10, 2019, 11:31 PM
May 2019

'Please, sir, may I have some more?' --Charles Dickens, 'Oliver Twist.'

marble falls

(56,359 posts)
7. Free lunch for school kids. In the Pantheon of "wasteful" or expensive programs ...
Sat May 11, 2019, 07:59 AM
May 2019

this wouldn't even show up in the also rans column.

What we don't do in the name of fiscal responsibility while pouring billions into a deep dark hole of "defense" and into corporate welfare pockets is shameful.

If they can pull several billions for a useless wall, they can feed kids at schools.

Turbineguy

(37,212 posts)
16. I'm pretty sure
Sun May 12, 2019, 04:03 PM
May 2019

we pay a lot more in school bond interest than school lunches would cost. When I went to elementary school in Los Angeles in the mid 1950's, lunch was part of the deal.

Now, education is another highway to transfer wealth.

EarthFirst

(2,877 posts)
8. NO child should have to pay for lunch. Period.
Sat May 11, 2019, 08:12 AM
May 2019

There’s a spare 1.5 billion to be found in the Pentagon for a fucking border wall.

We afford can feed kids while they’re at school!

 

Codeine

(25,586 posts)
12. Seriously. The richest country on earth
Sat May 11, 2019, 12:32 PM
May 2019

is bitching about the cost of cafeteria-quality spaghetti or a plate of mac-and-cheese.

Sancho

(9,065 posts)
10. We have schools in Florida that do this...why don't poor kids apply for free lunch?
Sat May 11, 2019, 08:51 AM
May 2019

...because undocumented parents don't want to fill out the application, even if the kid is born in the US - but sometimes the kid is undocumented too...

It's not only shaming, but a tool to deport the undocumented.

In Florida, about a third of the residents were born outside of the US.



demigoddess

(6,640 posts)
13. don't give them less of a lunch, give them more of a lunch.
Sat May 11, 2019, 02:14 PM
May 2019

heaven knows if they will get much of a dinner.

Evolve Dammit

(16,632 posts)
19. Richest (allegedly) country in the world, and we can't (won't) feed people in need. Utter BS
Sun May 12, 2019, 07:36 PM
May 2019

Zero reason kids shouldn't have proper nutrition, and free regardless of need. We can do health care too. And how about education? Maybe someday, we'll catch up with Slovenia. Or Finland. Or France. Or UK. Or Belgium. Or Spain. Or... oh fuck it.

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