Albuquerque schools institute a "cheese sandwich policy" for children with delinquent lunch accounts

[Wetzelbill]

Wow! -WB


No more lunch bills: Schools go after deadbeats


ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A cold cheese sandwich, fruit and a milk carton might not seem like much of a meal — but that's what's on the menu for students in New Mexico's largest school district without their lunch money.

Faced with mounting unpaid lunch charges in the economic downturn, Albuquerque Public Schools last month instituted a "cheese sandwich policy," serving the alternative meals to children whose parents are supposed to be able to pay for some or all of their regular meals but fail to pick up the tab.

Such policies have become a necessity for schools seeking to keep budgets in the black while ensuring children don't go hungry. School districts including those in Chula Vista, Calif.; Hillsborough County, Fla.; and Lynnwood, Wash.; have also taken to serving cheese sandwiches to children with delinquent lunch accounts.

Critics argue the cold meals are a form of punishment for children whose parents can't afford to pay. Parents who qualify for free meals are not affected.

"We've heard stories from moms coming in saying their child was pulled out of the lunch line and given a cheese sandwich," said Nancy Pope, director of the New Mexico Collaborative to End Hunger. "One woman said her daughter never wants to go back to school."

Some Albuquerque parents have tearfully pleaded with school board members to stop singling out their children because they're poor, while others have flooded talk radio shows thanking the district for imposing a policy that commands parental responsibility.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090225/ap_on_re_us/cheese_sandwich_flap

[ogneopasno]

1. That's a better meal than the hot lunches, really. I don't see why getting a cheese sandwich is an

embarrassing thing. So your parents forgot to pay! If kids are using it to mock other kids, then maybe teachers should crack down on that, instead of bankrupting the school.

[Wetzelbill]

2. for you it might be nt

[Wetzelbill]

5. great now you got me thinking about how good a cheese sandwich is

and I'm hungry.

[Iris]

8. It's not just because their parents forgot to pay. Some CAN'T pay and everyone knows it.

So,yeah, I can see how that would be embarrassing for a kid.

[ogneopasno]

12. Maybe it's because I live in a depressed area, but this seems like such a non-issue to me. If kids

are making fun of kids for having the "poor lunch," that should be addressed. If there isn't money to give kids the full hot lunches, what should they do?

[snappyturtle]

29. What I'd liketo know is how much food the school throws out at the end of the

week and then decide if they can't do something else. Maybe some of the Omnibus could help with this problem.

[Scout]

20. there is a program for the parents who CAN'T pay....

this is for the parents who can pay but haven't.

[Arkansas Granny]

23. There are programs for those who CAN'T pay. This article seems to be

talking about parents who DON'T pay, for hwatever reason.

To me, giving them a cheese sandwich, fruit and milk sounds better than letting them go hungry.

[Kalyke]

24. But that's only assessed at the first of the year.

If the parent loses his/her job or the ARM exploded on their home in the middle of the year, the kids is SOL until they do the assessment again at the first of the next school year.

[renate]

37. really? that seems horribly unfair

It's not that way in this state (Oregon). There are free-lunch forms in the packet of paperwork that the kids get on the first day of school, but they can also apply at any time if the parents' financial situation changes.

[Gormy Cuss]

33. Please read the whole article.

"Second-grader Danessa Vigil said she will never eat sliced cheese again. She had to eat cheese sandwiches because her mother couldn't afford to give her lunch money while her application for free lunch was being processed."

Frankly, it seems to be working out for the school department since the free lunch applications are way up. Too bad it's being done by making the kids feel like they've done something wrong.

[onetiredmom]

3. This has been discussed before.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4923250&mesg_id=4923250

My son's school also does this. After a day or two of cheese sandwiches, he remembers to tell me that he needs lunch money!

[MrPerson]

4. Nothing like scarring a kid early.

[Lance_Boyle]

7. cheese sandwiches leave scars?

Perhaps a properly-thrown wheel of gouda would do it, but my guess is that you're being a bit hyperbolic.

[MrPerson]

14. I meant the stigma put on the kid in front of his peers.

[Wetzelbill]

18. not the sandwich

It's the humiliation. They might as well take a kid in front of a classroom and announce that they are poor. They can find different ways to go about it.

[Lance_Boyle]

27. So do the kids whose family income qualifies them for free lunch

bear even more hideous scars than these cheese sandwich scars?

I think this is all a tempest in a cheese sandwich. If a student's family income does not qualify him/her for free lunch, and either the student or his/her parents neglect the matter of lunch money, the student still gets food. I'd say that's a win-win. Perhaps the policy should include a trigger that says when a week's worth of cheese sandwiches have been given away, a review of the family's income vis-a-vis the free lunch program is prompted. :shrug:

[jayfish]

30. Why Is This So Hard To Understand??????????????

Children from low income family's qualify for lunch free of charge. Said lunch is the same as the lunch any other kid pays for. There is no stigma and I'd bet a good portion of the kids who get the free lunches don't even know they are free. Compare that with a kid who used to get a lunch just like everyone else but now his/her parents are delinquent. Now they are eating a cheese sandwich lunch. Now they and everyone else in the school are privy to the family's finances and ridicule will, without a doubt, ensue.

Jay

[Wetzelbill]

34. I'm from a reservation

I had free lunches. You don't get set aside or anything like that in any manner. You just can't let other kids have a punch off your ticket is all.

[renate]

38. that's an excellent idea!

That's probably especially useful for non-English-speaking families who don't know how to apply for free lunches--after nonpayment for a week, they can get an envelope in the mail with the forms they need, rather than having to figure out how to get them online or at the school nutrition office.

[fed_up_mother]

43. Our school district has always sent out forms for applying for free lunch at the beginning ...

of the school year. They send them to everyone - even the folks living in million dollar homes. (Which I do not!)

[WolverineDG]

53. The article states that the district gives the parents 2 school weeks for elementary kids

& 2 days for high school kids to either settle up or fill out the forms. They also send home notes with the children & call the parents daily, all in advance of giving the kids a cheese sandwich. Meanwhile, the kids get the regular lunch. If the parents can't get it straightened out in 2 weeks, there's something wrong with the parents, not the school.

Sorry for bringing logic to the party....

dg

[Lost in CT]

9. Yeah cold food for lunch... he will need therapy soon.

:eyes:

[Missy Vixen]

40. Yeah, with the out-of-date clothing, the lack of expensive electronics,

the off-brand tennis shoes instead of the spendy athletic shoes.

The kid might as well wear a sign that his or her parents don't make a lot of money, or they're broke. Of course, bullying because of social or financial reasons never occurred in the school you grew up in, did it?

:eyes:

[Lost in CT]

49. Well no I grew up in the Northeast where we have town schools.

All the parents had basically the same income.

I doubt this school has only one kid on reduced lunch.

The PARENT didn't fill out the paperwork nor diod she provide her child with either lunch money or a meal from home.

THIS IS THE PARENTS FAULT

[Missy Vixen]

54. I grew up in Mountlake Terrace, WA

A lower-middle-class community that was a hotbed of bullying and torment for any kid deemed any different than anyone else, financially, socially, you name it.

Don't think this shit is a problem? I went to school with Mark O'Connor, probably the leading fiddle player on the planet. You might recognize his name. He made a little CD with Yo-Yo Ma and another guy a few years back called "Appalachian Waltz" which is now considered an American standard; he wins a Grammy just about yearly now for his other projects. He also was asked to play at Karenna Gore's wedding, to name a few of his honors. This is what he had to say about growing up in Mountlake Terrace. http://www.markoconnor.com/index.php?page=bio&family=mark&category=01--Diaries__&display=1615

Until the parent has to attend school each day and put up with the bullshit, the school needs to stop taking the parent's irresponsibility out on the students.

[Lost in CT]

57. I read his story and all I can say is wow....

My school had some bullies I'm sure but it was probably fairly idyllic compared to most.

[omega minimo]

26. maybe they should just tattoo the cheesy kids

:think:

[laylah]

6. In Rock Island they get

peanut butter and milk...go figger...these are CHILDREN ffs!

[rrneck]

15. PBJ is

a staple of MY diet. What's the chance I could get a cheese sandwich out of them?

[omega minimo]

10. Future vegetarians

:woohoo:

[leftstreet]

13. ...

:spray:

[omega minimo]

22. ,

:evilgrin:

[CreekDog]

11. This action is expected to save $37 statewide

:eyes:

[leftstreet]

16. Funding for the Class War must come from somewhere!

Unbelievable

[Wetzelbill]

21. that's alot

:)

[RayOfHope]

48. You'd be surprised. See my post below. We had $20,000 in unpaid lunch debt last year

and we are a middle sized school district.

[cyberswede]

17. Our school provides PB sandwiches

Over half the students at our school qualify for the free/reduced lunch program.
This policy is NOT meant for those students.
The other half of the students pay about $1.50 for lunch each day. Families prepay, and the school sends a note home when the balance is getting low. If families forget to send money to replenish the account, the student is given a PB sandwich until the account is replenished/up to date. I don't have a problem with the policy at all; I do have problem with the fact that schools aren't adequately funded, so they're required to find ways to pinch pennies all the time. I would suggest that any family having trouble affording the lunch fee contact the school and see about enrolling in the free/reduced program.

[AyanEva]

19. .

When we forgot our lunch money or our parents didn't have any to give us (at the time, my parents made too much to qualify for free lunch), we got a peanut butter and honey sandwich, fruit, and some milk. And no one complained. My parents were happy we had lunch and we were happy we had lunch. They'd send us to school with a note explaining that we had no lunch money and the teacher would walk us up to the front of the line and make sure we got a sandwich. I mean srsly? There was no policy that allowed a quota of regular hot lunches up to a certain point. I actually didn't know that ANY school district did that.

With our county, if you didn't have lunch, you got a peanut butter and honey sandwich, no matter what. It didn't matter how rich or poor you were or how many times you forgot/didn't have money. If you didn't have money, you were eating a sandwich. I would've killed for a cheese sandwich, so I don't know what they're complaining about.

[omega minimo]

25. "HOW CAN YE 'AVE YER PUDDING EF YE DON'T EAT YER MEAT????!!!!!!!!!"

everybody SING:

ALL IN ALL IT'S JUST ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL

[Occam Bandage]

28. That is what I had for lunch today: Cheese sandwich, fruit, and milk.

I have nothing else to say, except that singling out the kids of parents in financial crisis is not very nice.

[kiva]

41. I agree about singling out kids,

but it doesn't sound as though this is what's happening, at least in most school districts. Many parents have said that if they've forgotten to send money, or their children forget to remind them, said kids have had these lunches. Now, if these schools are making big production about handing out this lunches and calling attention to the children, that's absolutely wrong.

As for me, just had a PB&J and milk, no fruit, darn it.:hi:

[SheilaT]

31. This has been widely discussed

here in Santa Fe.

Many adults can't figure out why the parents can't themselves pack a PB&J sandwich for the kid. And don't say there's no time in the morning. It takes under two minutes to fix one. Heck, I've been packing PB&J sandwiches recently because of my own personal budget cuts.

And there's a lot more than $37.00 on the line here. It's thousands of dollars, and schools here as everywhere are hurting financially, taking cuts of all kinds.

[Initech]

32. Might as well slap a big giant "A" on their shirts.

[Cha]

35. It's better than nothing but

kids should not have to downsize on school lunches because their parents are too poor to give them lunch money.

[KamaAina]

36. Good thing I didn't grow up in Albuquerque

I can't stand cheese. :puke:

Come to think of it, in a city that size, there might possibly be one or two schoolchildren who agree with me...

[WI_DEM]

39. It's better than nothing. They could have given them ketchup and call it a veggie.

[madfloridian]

42. It's meant to shame the parents by singling out the children.

And you will be viciously attacked here for defending the kids.

You will hear about how the parents are deadbeats and their kids deserve being treated that way.

I still have bruises.

[Wetzelbill]

44. Yeah, that's how it looks

But I'm cool with that. :) Plus my alternate proposal of punching the kids instead will probably go over pretty well with that crowd, lol.

[madfloridian]

45. LOL

I am thinking DU became the "personal responsibility" arm of the GOP while we were not watching.

Folks are big on personal responsibility even if people are in dire straits....it's all they have heard for 8 years.

I think many fail to see the difference now between being in dire straits and just being lazy. They don't even see how the kids are being used to shame the parents.

As a former teacher, I had arguments with lunch ladies and ended up paying for some in my class because I knew the heartbreaking circumstances.

[Wetzelbill]

50. I see enough

unnerving reactions to things around here that sometimes I wonder just what forum people think they are on. There is a certain disconnect even among Dems for these sort of things. Not nearly as bad as the GOP of course, but it's still there.

[madmom]

46. So don't give these kids anything to eat, see how much more of a stigma that is.

This is a crock, the kids get lunch, that is all that matters!

[RayOfHope]

47. Many, many districts do this. Our school had over $20,000 in delinquent lunch debt last year

If a student is over $20 in the hole, they get PB and J, a banana, and a milk.

[mwooldri]

51. If they're really worried about cutting costs then they could...

... abolish school lunches altogether.

Norway and Korea - two countries where their schools routinely do not serve school lunches.

AFAIK there are some schools in the UK that don't do hot lunches.

When I went to school - if I had no lunch money, I had... no lunch. This was the UK, late 80's/early 90's.

Mark.

[seasat]

52. Bet part of it has to do with grants

One of the measures of special funding that schools get is based on the number of kids receiving reduced or free meals. They consider it a measure of poverty. They may be using this as a way getting more federal funding.

[LynnTheDem]

55. Yeah, we're the "greatest".

What a country.

[propagandagirl]

56. I don't get it....?

If my kids forget their lunch, or their lunch money, there is NO free lunch option. Nothing. Not so much as a cracker!? Not in Elementary, Jr. High, or High School!? When my girls were in Elementary school the teachers would sometimes lend the money, but it depended on the teacher. Now if they forget they just share with their friends....

[ohgooglemebaby]

58. I read the original story in the paper this morning and it's not about those

who cannot afford school lunches. They will continue getting their meals. It is for those parents who CAN afford them but for some reason haven't paid up.

I worked in a school and apparently there is likely widespread abuse of the program to begin with. In other words, the schools are often lax about determining who can afford and who cannot. This creates waste in the first place.

When I was a kid, my family qualified for this type of program. God bless my mom. She asked me if I wanted to participate. I said no, because of the stigma, but also because I didn't want a yucky government lunch. Even though we qualified, we still had the money to afford packing a lunch. My goodness; it's cheaper to bring a nice, healthy lunch anyhow! The usual cost for the school ones is about $2.50 where I live.

Oh, and when I was a kid, guess who packed my lunch every day? ME!!! Starting when I was in 2nd grade.