You may have read or seen this story on ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX, or NBC News; it has also been on BBC. International attention focused on 40 elementary school students in Utah.
I live in Salt Lake County, Utah; it is an area served by five separate school districts. On Monday, January 27, 2014, the administrators of the Uintah Elementary School in the Salt Lake City School District sent notes home with students that had zero or negative lunch balances. According to their records, they sent emails and made phone calls informing the parents that if the students had zero or negative balances in their lunch funds, they would be denied school lunch on Tuesday, January 28.
Tuesday, January 28th, the students lined up for the regular school lunch program. In Utah, the school lunch program is funded by parental checks, state and federal funds, and by revenues from state-owned liquor stores. (The state owns the only liquor stores in Utah.) Forty -40- students in this school went through the lunch line, with their classmates, only to have the lunches taken away from them at the end of the line, and thrown in the trash. The students were then given a container of milk, and an apple. A “snack lunch” was provided to elementary school students.
If a playground bully had taken their lunch money, the bully would be suspended from school, and the school would have provided the lunch. However, this was not the playground bully, this was the school district taking the lunches, and throwing them away. At the end of the lunch line, in front of their classmates.
A school nutrition administrator (who has a total pay and benefits package of $144,000 annual) had come to the Uintah Elementary school to oversee this process. This person directed the “lunch ladies” to take the lunches away from the students, after they had received the food. (Food handling laws prevent the food from being re-served.)
Forty elementary school students were shamed in front of their classmates because the parents had not kept current with the school lunch checks.
This is not a poverty-stricken area. Only 11% of the students in Uintah Elementary are eligible for reduced-priced lunches.
Elementary school students are forbidden by federal and state laws from employment, they cannot, on their own, pay for the lunches. These students do not have any financial control over money in the household. Yet, they were denied nutritious lunches because of the parent’s lack of response to a 1-day notice.
That’s right; the parents were given a 1-day notice. If you or I are a behind on a payment, we are given, by law, several days to correct the issue. These parents were given a 1-day notice.
A ONE-day notice, before their children were humiliated in front of their classmates.
Of course, the district has offered an apology- in the media. Actually, they put the media response on their Facebook page. The district has placed the blame on the lunchroom supervisor regardless of their news release that a district nutrition supervisor had ordered this action. The lunchroom supervisor was placed on paid administrative leave, pending investigation. On January 31, they announced a “supervisor” also was placed on paid leave, however, they did not indicate if this is an in-school or district supervisor. In later updates, the district has stated that a new notification system to parents may have been at fault, for failure to notify in a timely fashion.
In the local press, previous employees of the district have declared this is a district-wide policy, and failure to follow it will be grounds for dismissal. However, other school districts in Utah make the distinction at the front of the lunch line, to avoid embarrassing the students.
My antidotal research has found this is not a problem particular to Utah; it is widespread through out our nation. A nation that cares for its’ children.
I think this was WRONG!
What is your opinion? Comments and opinions are welcome!
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