We already have programs that pay for school lunches for kids that need it, so either
People whose kids that should be in the program aren’t.
People that can very well afford to pay for lunch for their kids are being deadbeats or terrible money managers.
People who can afford a basic lunch have kids taking more “extras” than they can afford above a basic lunch.
Just letting kids rack up school lunch debt with no consequences isn’t a good solution to any of these problems.
Where I live people seem to reflexively vote down any school budget increases, which forces schools to find savings anywhere they can. Can’t say I’m surprised this sort of thing happens.
When I was a teacher I once found myself on a committee that was looking at improving the nutrition of school food and trying to get rid of the soda machines. The big problem was that the soda machines were a revenue source and we’d have to find something to replace it. Being new to the committee I naively asked, “Um, do we really need to be making a profit off of our students?”
They looked at me like I had two heads.
I do wonder how many parents who could pay don’t because they know some anonymous benefactor will do it for them. :dubious:
When I was growing up in the 1970s, the rule was no money or ticket: no food. Period. Bullies knew this, and in my case, bringing a sack lunch wasn’t going to work either because they would find a way to access it, and steal or tamper with it. :mad: The lunch tickets were also different colors for children who had free or reduced-price lunches.
Several years ago, there were stories about kids being assigned lunch at really bizarre times, like 9:45. That didn’t make sense to anyone.
Is that so bad?
When I was in 6th grade I wiped off tables everyday for a free lunch.
Also I noticed later in HS when I was teaching many kids got the free lunch, then went up to the vending machines and bought candy and sodas costing the same or more and I even saw kids sneak out and go to like Taco Bell.
At our local high schools teachers noticed many kids would only stay up until they got their free lunch then they would skip the rest of the day and leave. So the teachers drafted a plan that any kid doing this should no longer get free lunch.
So by HS at least I dont think any kid should be getting free lunch unless they earned it.
or in my sons school the line can take 20 minutes leaving maybe 10 for eating and at other schools some kids lunch starts at 10, others 1:30.
Some of the free/reduced/normal cost lunches are done by a student code/card. This way there is no money exchanged by the kids, just swipe their student ID card and pin and it links to a account for this which their parents replenish (if needed - sometimes it’s free for some). This way the students can’t see the who is getting free/reduced cost meals, and students don’t have to carry money. Seems like the best way to do it for the kids, also perhaps the parents can see what their children are getting. Now that doesn’t stop one kid buying for another, but it does solve a lot of the issues.
There are different things going on here. We had a town that had to rescind it’s policy to provide only a minimal lunch to kids who had no money or a lunch debt. The problem was that most of them weren’t impoverished kids, they were just spending more than the money their parents had provided. Most of that money was spent on junk food like french fries and dessert, often treating their friends. When their debt was high enough they weren’t allowed anymore credit, and the parents weren’t coughing up the repayment claiming the school shouldn’t have allowed their spoiled brats to rack up a bill like that (IIRC $500 in one case). So when one disadvantaged kid gets caught up in this everyone claims lunch-shaming is going on when really it’s mainly a bunch of deadbeat parents with out of control kids.
Yeah, I think it IS pretty horrible.
The way I look at it is, with the possible exception of some older high school students, EVERY kid is getting a free lunch. Their lunch is either funded by their parents or by the school directly. And I think they deserve this lunch. Their “job” at that age is going to school and learning stuff, and being well-fed helps them do their job.
Somehow, no one is worrying that the kids with well-off parents aren’t learning that “there’s no such thing as a free lunch”. If teaching work ethic is so important, then start a program where EVERY student does labor towards the upkeep of their school. But singling out the young children of economically disadvantaged parents for cruel lessons in the harsh realities of life is just wrong.
Back in the 1970’s, we were given a form to take home that was an opt-in for the school lunch program. But every student had to return the form. This kept students from being embarrassed or shamed by returning the form and it also kept students from going hungry because they forgot to return the paper. The teachers would follow up until they had a form from everyone. People were just nicer then, I guess.
And frankly, if I saw a kid in my school eat a free school lunch, then raid the vending machines, then go to a fast food restaurant, my reaction would not be to think that they were ripping off the system for a free plate of institutional meatloaf, instant potatoes and canned green beans. I would think that they weren’t being fed at home. In my high school there was a girl on the program that ate a lot. She was always hungry and looked half-starved. I noticed, some of my friends noticed, and we chipped in our own money every week to buy her nutrition drinks.
Going the other direction …
I have a relative who teaches at a grade school with so many kids qualifying for free lunches that the school decided to make them free to everybody to save on the administrative hassles and all that.
So it’s not all bad out there, but it shouldn’t be bad anywhere.
I went to school at the same time and remember signing up for the lunch program. We all benefited from discounted lunch costs. I’m pretty sure it was 50 cents a day for me. A bargain for a full hot, meal even in the seventies. To compare cost, Coke in a vending machine was 35 cents for several years.
Many kids got free lunches. Research has shown a connection between childhood learning and nutrition. Many schools also offer an early morning snack. Feeding hungry kids helps their performance and it’s certainly the right thing to do.
I’m not thrilled to hear they’re offering higher priced food options in the school cafeteria. I guess burgers, nachos and so on? But that’s better than a kid eating junk from a vending machine.
I wasn’t eating well during my last hospital stay. Some of the food was ok, but there were a couple days when the food just didn’t interest me. The dietician came by and explained I could write burger on my menu card. 
Made in the hospital grill. That was a big relief on the days when the main meal wasn’t appealing.
I note that the employee noted above was fired by a contractor. Services incidental to essential government services should not be outsourced to contractors. Contractors are incentivized to squeeze their employees and the quality of services in favor of profits. Food services, janitorial services, etc ., for public schools should be provided by public employees.
born in 1961, schools from 1966 to 79 [a variety of public school, private school and for a couple years boarding school]
Most of the time in NY state in the 70s it was standard serving line, everybody got an entree, 2 veg and a carton of milk with a small dessert. Optionals were for 5 cents an upgrade to chocolate milk, one of those ice cream novelties vanilla/chocolate/strawberry ice cream in the little single serve tub with wooden spoon was 10 cents, a bread and [real!] butter sandwich - 2 slices white bread with probably a tbsp of real butter was 5 cents and if you brought your own sack lunch you got the carton of white milk free but could upgrade to chocolate and buy ice cream as dessert for the regular price. I seem to remember the lunch was 50 cents. Private schools the food was standard serving line no money at the till but there was a choice between 2 entrees [vegetarian and nonvegetarian] 2 veg with an optional salad if you wanted one, and choice between dessert and a piece of fruit [apple orange or banana] Boarding school was eat what was in front of you and don’t argue … 3 meals a day.
You don’t simply tell the principal that you’re poor, you haave to prove it, the same way you prove you deserve food stamps. Sure some parents have figured out how to game the system, but the number isn’t worth your :dubious:
The problem with this is 2 fold. First they are forced to go there, this is not the adult life decisions that lead to their chosen career, this is almost gun to your head if you want to eat you are going to work sort of stuff, so it is not fair to require them to pay as their decisions have not put them in this situation. and second they are children and should learn as a life lesson that children do not pay as adults do.
You post often enough that your partisan views are no secret. Tell us, if you can, which political party supports nutrition for poor children and which party doesn’t.
Is school lunch really around $2.50 now? It was $0.95 back in the early/mid 90s.
Also at $2.50 how is that subsidized? That is about the price of a cheap meal you make yourself.
Why would you believe it is cold? We get occasional catered dinners at work that aren’t. Why would the food service not be held to the same standard? This is not a new concept. When I started high school, the grade school was a new structure about 3 blocks away. Lunch was prepared at the high school kitchen and carried to the elementary school. This was in the ‘70’s. Early on, my kids’ school had that same system. Catered from the district lunch room 20 miles away. Rarely did I hear of cold food comments. My wife did the parent involvement at school thing often enough that we’d had heard of it.
All my kids attended the district high school. All had a $10 debt limit beyond which they would only be eligible for the PB&J sandwiches. Checks to the office or some online method are the only ways to pay. I can restrict the amount they can spend, even for their out of pocket purchases that they pay their own money for. My first didn’t have a limit at the start and he’d typically hit $6-7/day ten years ago. I limited him to around $4+ and slightly raised it for the following ones.
In that neighborhood. 75¢ ice cream sandwiches, 45¢ for extra milk.
Inflation is a bitch.
My kid said so. He attended a public school who outsourced their lunches. Lunches were never really ‘hot’ and sometimes would be room temperature Now He attends one with a in school cafeteria done by the school district, and food is ‘better’ as he reports, no temperature complaints, also free for every student.
Here’s the OP’s school lunch menu. Full priced lunches for HS students are 2.60. Reduced lunches are .40. This kid had $8.00 in food on his tray. She said herself that she knew the kid’s family. So what it appears to be is her slipping merch to friends’ kid. That seems like theft to me.
This isn’t “lunch shaming” or anything like that.
StG