Steamboat schools deny hot lunches to students owing money

[AnnieOakley]

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo.—Forget pizza, hamburgers and macaroni and cheese.
Dozens of students at Steamboat Springs schools are getting peanuts, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches—or nothing—for lunch this week after the district cut off those with unpaid balances on their school lunch accounts.

Nutritional Services director Max Huppert says students owing $6 or more were not allowed to use the district's automated payment system to buy hot lunches when they returned to school Monday. The move affected about 25 elementary students and an unknown number of middle school students.

The affected elementary school students were given snack food instead, but the others received nothing.

Huppert says about half of the nearly $10,000 owed to the district has since been paid.

———

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_11407593

[Jonas Parker]

Do I smell a lawsuit here?

[glass half empty]

No child should go without a hot lunch!:evil::evil::evil:

Not to freakin mention the 100's of dollars in school supplies each year. (Enough kleenex to stock Walgreens)..... I'm sorry.
Every year it's around 260.00 in school supplies for my 3 grandkids. A sore point for me...sorry.

Carry on....

[Bethshaya]

No child left behind....but they will go hungry.

Where is our country's priorities?

Wall Street and Main Street companies get billions of dollars to waste on lavish trips to retreat locations, but they can't feed the children hot meals at school?

[emoemo333]

At least they can charge up to $6. In my district, if a child comes in without lunch money, they get a peanut butter sandwich and milk that day. I know this because back when the kids were in elementary, I flat forgot to give the kids a check for their lunch money that week. I realized after the fact but could not get over to school due to meetings but figured they could charge their lunch that day. They did not have a balance on their accounts cause we always paid. That evening I was told they got peanut butter sandwiches and milk that day and was told that was standard as the district did not allow lunches to be charged.

[Berean]

No child should go without a hot lunch!:evil::evil::evil:

Not to freakin mention the 100's of dollars in school supplies each year. (Enough kleenex to stock Walgreens)..... I'm sorry.
Every year it's around 260.00 in school supplies for my 3 grandkids. A sore point for me...sorry.

Carry on....

No child should go without a hot lunch!:evil::evil::evil:I'm disagreeing with that one. I went to school plenty of times with a peanut butter sandwich.

My kids' school no longer allows students to "charge" a lunch. They are however, provided with a sandwich of some sort and a drink if they don't have a lunch.

Now, not letting elementary kids have SOME sort of lunch is totally unacceptable. Middle school and High School kids will bum money off of someone else.

Folks, I've worked in the public schools for 27 years. There is PLENTY of money in the Free and Reduced Lunch (and now breakfast) program for everyone who qualifies and it's not that hard to qualify.

That district looks like they had $10,000 worth of lunch charges. As a taxpayer, I would be glad that they were trying to be responsible with the money they have. But do it without starving the little kids.

[kelee877]

wow..they get to have peanut butter in their school...our school ban it this year....

and our kids get 2 lunch breaks in the day now...they are called nutrition breaks

[lamplighter]

Our school has a policy that if you owe 10.00 then you get a sack lunch to eat that day.
Lamplighter

[mickyd]

The problem is not that they don't have the money or the food at home. The problem lies with today's mothers who do not wake their children up, feed them a good breakfast and send them to school with a lunch. this applies to the majority of these children, the moms in this country just aren't what they use to be.

[Bulldog30]

I remember forgeting my lunch money and they gave me a sack lunch consisting of a fruit, sandwich and a milk. I thought it was like that everywhere. Learn something everyday...

[ScottyKarate]

No comment.

[Beaners]

My school never let you "charge" a lunch. You could prepay for lunches at the beginning of the year for a reduced rate, but unless you were in the free lunch program or had prepaid you needed to bring in your money every day.

I think in elementary school you could get a free bagged lunch if you forgot your money, but it involved a call to your parents. And you couldn't do it often. Once you got to middle school you were on your own.

Kayleigh

[momof23goats]

M yschiool never let us charge our lunches either. but if the parents just don't have money, because of lay offs or what ever ,then they should call the school, and tell them, there are programs, for these kids to get lunchs, and breakfasts too.
but a pand ja isn't a bad lunch, but if there is no money for the child, then it needs to be brought to the attention of the school.
Many people are loosing jobs, and have no money, or little food at home.

[alixi]

The real story:

If you sign up for free lunches, you GET THEM! End of story.

If you don't sign up for free lunches because you normally pay and then get behind on your bill, they cut you off. But they do continue to give the free lunch to all the kids who never paid for them at all.

In my school district, about 80% receive some sort of free or mostly free lunch.

[Lbuck]

Alixi, exactly. Steamboat is a ski town and they have tons of free programs for all of the "service workers". There is free housing, free vouchers for the thrift shops and a large well stocked food bank. The programs are very well funded to keep the workers there.

[nettled]

What's the matter with you people? Why do I have to buy your kids'/grandkids' lunch?
YOU buy it!

[emoemo333]

What's the matter with you people? Why do I have to buy your kids'/grandkids' lunch?
YOU buy it!

I hear you there. Even when we were poor enough, to qualify with our kids we refused to do it. It was a matter of pride for us. We would rather be dirt poor then on the dole.

[1loner]

We would rather be dirt poor then on the dole.
+ 1

[Jez]

I'm disagreeing with that one. I went to school plenty of times with a peanut butter sandwich.

My kids' school no longer allows students to "charge" a lunch. They are however, provided with a sandwich of some sort and a drink if they don't have a lunch.

Now, not letting elementary kids have SOME sort of lunch is totally unacceptable. Middle school and High School kids will bum money off of someone else.

Folks, I've worked in the public schools for 27 years. There is PLENTY of money in the Free and Reduced Lunch (and now breakfast) program for everyone who qualifies and it's not that hard to qualify.

That district looks like they had $10,000 worth of lunch charges. As a taxpayer, I would be glad that they were trying to be responsible with the money they have. But do it without starving the little kids.
Ok. I'm missing something so I'm wondering if you guys can clarify something for me. How is only having a PB&J sandwich and a drink suddenly starving a child? Heck it's probably better food than they would have gotten though the "snack" line anyway. Also what about the instance of it's the parent that "forgot" to give their kid lunch money or whatever, guess what Mom & Dad you forgot to provide for YOUR kid, who's making the mistake here? And what about poor junior who didn't get his lunch one day, big deal, he'll eat when he gets home. So you missed one meal, it happens from time to time. Some people do it on purpose (fasting).

To me it seems like people are taking this all out of proportion. It seems now a days you cause a kid an inconvenience or mild discomfort and people suddenly lose their minds and the ability to think rationally.

[Sammy55]

Ok. I'm missing something so I'm wondering if you guys can clarify something for me. How is only having a PB&J sandwich and a drink suddenly starving a child? Heck it's probably better food than they would have gotten though the "snack" line anyway. Also what about the instance of it's the parent that "forgot" to give their kid lunch money or whatever, guess what Mom & Dad you forgot to provide for YOUR kid, who's making the mistake here? And what about poor junior who didn't get his lunch one day, big deal, he'll eat when he gets home. So you missed one meal, it happens from time to time. Some people do it on purpose (fasting).

To me it seems like people are taking this all out of proportion. It seems now a days you cause a kid an inconvenience or mild discomfort and people suddenly lose their minds and the ability to think rationally.


I agree wholeheartedly!! Missing one meal isn't going to kill a kid. And if the kid misses a meal, he'll put pressure on his parents to remember the money next time.

I've been in Steamboat Springs. Most of those families have enough money to feed their kids. And if they don't, they should sign up for the free lunch program. If they don't and their kids are missing meals sometimes, then it is up to the school staff to recognize that and intervene on behalf of the kids.

I spent a good share of my growing up years eating pb&j sandwiches! Never hurt me!! We didn't have the money many times for hot lunches, and sometimes I didn't want them. Some of them looked gross! It's not going to hurt the kids to eat pb&j.

Putting the blame on the school system over stopping lunch credit is not the right thing to do. The blame is squarely on the parents. HOWEVER, if a child is in a neglected situation, then the school system should have blame placed on them if they don't recognize it and try to talk to the parents and/or intervene on the child's behalf.

In fact, like mentioned already, I admire the school system for standing up and saying, "no more!"

[Lbuck]

Exactly! I get so steamed when I go to Steamboat I have to take my aspirin lick with me. I have gone to this one Thrift shop for over a decade. They now have dozens of service workers that load up garbage bags of clothing and anything else you can think of, hand over their vouchers and not blink an eye. Then they'll back up their cars or trucks and haul the food out. Their donation base is very large, but you are lucky to find a pair of children's jeans in there. By the way they do have jobs, most pay under the table cash. this is not an opinion, it's fact. Oh, yes Nanny State......free medical, free lunches, free housing, free food stamp cards. Chaps my hide.

[Housekeeper]

I run the school lunch program at my kids school. It's a very small, Catholic school. The largest class is 24 kids. We have a policy that any child who doesn't pay for 3 days or more will get a cheese sandwich (we've got several severe nut allergies, no peanut butter served here...) Having said that...we have NEVER refused to serve any child lunch and never will while I am there!!!! We only actually have one family that abuses that policy on a regular basis...they owe well over $100 for 3 kids. But all of the other families will pay, even if they do get behind sometimes, they will catch up and that's fine with me.
By the way...we are completely self supporting...the school doesn't contribute anything to the lunch program at all. We pay our wages, buy food and supplies, etc. It's incredibly tough to make ends meet and serve the kids semi healthy foods and still stay within our budget (try and keep it under $1.65-1.85 per meal). But I reiterate...I will NOT refuse any child...EVER....

[GardenerGirl]

This thread saddens me. This sense of entitlement is exactly what is wrong with America. Why is it the Government's job to feed our children? What happened to responsibility?

( By the way, I sent my kiddo off to school today with peanut butter on homemade whole wheat bread (no jelly, GASP!), an orange plucked from the tree next to our driveway, a baggie of leftover airpopped popcorn, and a reusable bottle of TAP water. )

Sorry to sound harsh, but we need to step up to the plate and take responsibility for our own lives and the lives of our children. And if you are too busy to keep your children's lunch tab paid or heaven forbid, take the time to actually make the lunch yourself, then how about teaching your child a little self-reliancy and have them make their own lunch?

WARNING: RANT ON

Or, just keep snivelling and let the government take care of you. And after they are done feeding you, clothing you, and wiping your a$$, I'm sure that you will be shown all the respect that you deserve.

RANT OFF

[Nicho1]

Let's add a little fire to the kindling. At my school a few years ago, one of the students would take the "free" lunch and then not eat it...none of it...not even the fruit or milk. When asked why she took it if she didn't want it, she said, "it's free." There is so much "free food" thrown away that you wouldn't believe it. Schools want the kids to sign up for free lunch because after a certain percentage of free lunch children, that school gets more government money! I totally agree with the previous sentiments which indicate that families need to learn to provide for themselves. Perhaps skipping the latest artificial fingernail painting would provide enough money to help a child? I wonder if any ever thought of that? We are continually bombarded with "do it for the children," and I get tired of hearing it. All the collections for school supplies is another sore point. You find these things thrown on the floor and perfectly good notebooks in the trash. Maybe if people had to pay for things, they would appreciate them more? OK. I'll get off the soapbox but it'll take a while to settle down. :-D

[KERIC]

My boys (6 & 9) bring a packed lunch everyday. Back in Sept a note came home from the cafeteria saying that my 9 yr old owed 1.00 for something he had gotten. Right after this happened I called the head lunch lady and asked her to change his pin number because she couldnt delete his name out of the system. I never told him what the new number was because I forgot soon after that.

Now a couple of days ago I get the same note with the same message.
This time Im going to tell her that I want his number changed and is not allowed to tell him what it is, that way if someone pushes the wrong key I wont be responsible (I hope). He was warned that he is forbidden to go thru the lunch line since he brings his lunch and there is nothing wrong with what I pack. (Today was cheese slices, pepperoni, sliced orange, water and a piece of fudge).

So unless she can prove to me exactly what he brought for a 1.00 Im not paying for it (after this incident). Im not paying for someone elses loose finger.
Barb

[emoemo333]

I agree it is more of the entitlement mentality. Currently my two are in high school. I give them the cash each week for lunch. No I do not pack lunches because they are old enough to do it themselves and I want the to take on more personnal resposibility. This week my daughter took her money and went to the grocery store and bought her lunch fixings. She had to budget out of the money I gave her and has packed her lunch every day. My son on the other hand either buys from the cafeteria or he and his friends will go get lunch. Their high school has open campus for lunch because the cafeteria is not big enough to serve everyone. They also have the option of packing lunch and putting it in the fridge at my office and coming up there to heat their meall in our microwave. Both kids know that if they blow their money we are not giving them more. They also have the option of packing lunch from leftovers from supper the night before which is what I do. Our son is hypoglycemic so I do keep food he can pack to graze on during the day. His teachers know he is hypoglycemic and also underweight do to a diseased gallbladeder that was remover in November. His teachers work with him to make sure he can graze when he needs to.

Bottom line here is personnal responsibility. Back that time I forgot to give them lunch money was my faults not the schools. There is nothing wrong with peanut butter on wheat bread. There was a time I lived on it cause there was not money for anything else including jelly. Such is life. I did not whine at the time. It built character and I learned to survive.

[Patches]

Yep, nothing wrong with a lunch box, or a bag.

[angelwing]

Geez, we were NOT allowed to eat lunch when I was going to grade school until 8th grade! We had to run home eat and run back in an hour and we didn't get bussed either and I lived exactly 2 miles! Once in a while my mom would meet me half-way to eat at a luncheonette that was one mile away but that was a treat!

Kids today are getting away easy, sheesh

[kenny1659]

I worked in the cafeteria to earn my lunch.

[glass half empty]

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo.—Forget pizza, hamburgers and macaroni and cheese.
Dozens of students at Steamboat Springs schools are getting peanuts, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches—or nothing—for lunch this week after the district cut off those with unpaid balances on their school lunch accounts.

Nutritional Services director Max Huppert says students owing $6 or more were not allowed to use the district's automated payment system to buy hot lunches when they returned to school Monday. The move affected about 25 elementary students and an unknown number of middle school students.

The affected elementary school students were given snack food instead, but the others received nothing.

Huppert says about half of the nearly $10,000 owed to the district has since been paid.

———

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_11407593

Just got back to the thread. Had left to work on a $3500.00 surveillance camera system to catch gas thieves (@ 1.45 a gal).:twisted:

Sorry everyone. I meant to say "every child deserves a lunch (not a hot lunch). They ought to get some kind of lunch. Punish the damn sorry parents who are neglecting their children. You read all the time where CPS is called for every reason in the world, send a nice threating letter to the parents. Send a deputy by their house. A badge at your door does wonders. Also there are assistance programs for those who are truly in need.

I was mostly mad because where my grandkids go to school, the parents take up the slack for the ones who refuse (or unable) to buy school supplies. Ex. 32 kids each buying 5 boxes of kleenex? I don't believe they will use 160 boxes of kleenex in a school year. The parents who buy are buying for the slacker parents (all the supplies are turned in to the teacher). 160 boxes of moist towelettes? I'm all for stepping up and paying for your kids...just not everybody else's. So high school taxes + paying for the sorry slacker parents = :twisted::twisted::twisted: And only the homeowners pay the taxes....the gazillion renters don't pay school taxes....crap don't get me started. Where I grew up, I watched the decent folk go to work, sweat, bleed, and pay taxes while the slackers drank, stole, had babies and picked up their check.

BTW I brown bagged through the 60's myself.

GHE (too early for meds....well, maybe not)

[Torentelli]

It is good that children have a hot lunch..or..cold lunch. But what are they going to do when there is no lunch? Are they going to riot because they are entitled and gov't owes it to them?

Many (not all) children have been trained up to believe everything is owed to them. We had no lunch because there was no money and there were no programs. All through High School - we went hungry - BUT we lived and we learned a very valuable lesson. A lesson that will serve us so well when TSHTF. It is hard....so very hard but in the end...they will be better able to take care of themselves and maybe have some mercy on others because they have learned that valuable lesson and will share with others.

[ShakinSouth]

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo.—Forget pizza, hamburgers and macaroni and cheese.
Dozens of students at Steamboat Springs schools are getting peanuts, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches—or nothing—for lunch this week after the district cut off those with unpaid balances on their school lunch accounts.

Nutritional Services director Max Huppert says students owing $6 or more were not allowed to use the district's automated payment system to buy hot lunches when they returned to school Monday. The move affected about 25 elementary students and an unknown number of middle school students.

The affected elementary school students were given snack food instead, but the others received nothing.

Huppert says about half of the nearly $10,000 owed to the district has since been paid.

———

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_11407593

Whatever happened to having to pay for your lunch when you bought it? Pesky credit even thrown upon children these days. The kids are being as irresponsible with credit privileges as their parents are. There's a chance that a couple of them come from families that are just flat broke. In that case, the parents need to be sending them to school with a pb&j sandwich or some cornbread and molasses or something....sheesh! What is this world coming to? Nevermind...I already know the answer.

[Sambucol]

At our elementary school, if the kids have an unpaid balance (I don't know how much and I don't know how long it's gone unpaid), our cafeteria gives them a sack lunch and drink. In addition, everyone is provided a free breakfast every morning regardless of whether the student is on free or reduced lunch. Our district started doing this because there were many parents sending their kids to school without breakfast.

[Chuck]

Home educate then there won't be a problem plus the children will get an education.

[Housekeeper]

I don't know about elsewhere, but here they did away with the cash pay in the lunch line thing because of "privacy issues". The kids don't need to know who pays for their lunch, who gets free or reduced or who forgot their lunch money etc. This information goes as far as the cafeteria staff and no further (except when we have someone who gets really behind and I need backup from the Principal on collecting it.) Parents send in their kids lunch money in an envelope with their childs name on it and it comes to the cafeteria unopened. Even the teachers don't know who is free or reduced. Sounds awfully PC...but at the same time, this is one less thing that kids have to look down their noses at other kids about. BTW, it wasn't a school rule, but a PA Dept of Ed rule.

While I completely understand the need for parents to be responsible for their own kids and the desire to teach children the need to pay their own way...as the person who stands and looks at the kids when they are sitting at the lunch table eating a very meager packed lunch while their classmates are enjoying their favorite things...I just can't turn a child away. I would (and have on occasion) pay for their meal out of my pocket instead. I just breaks my heart .

[nomifyle]

The pb&j sandwich is more nutritious than the crap they sell that is hot. I agree that parents should feed their children a hot breakfast at home. DH and I both worked and our children got a hot breakfast everyday. Either I or DH made it for them. No cold cereal in our house, I didn't think it was nutritious. With homemade from scratch we had a clue what they were getting. And thank goodness the boxed freezer stuff wasn't all that available when my boys were growing up. They are very healthy men today.

Unfortunately I can't say that for my grandchildren, their mothers don't have a clue about nutrition and my oldest grandson is suffering from it (he is 4). His behavior is just about out of control. He exists on chicken nukets and pizza bites and sweets.

Anyway, there is nothing wrong with a peanut butter sandwich and milk for lunch. Of course, the kind of peanut butter and milk is another thing.

Judy

[Alder]

We either paid for hot lunch (each day) or brought a sack lunch when we were kids. If one of us forgot our lunch and had to buy it, we borrowed money from somebody or Mom brought us our lunch.

I must be missing something here. Also, often my sack lunch was a peanut butter sandwich and an apple. What the h#ll is wrong with that? Better than pizza and tater tots. The school doesn't owe any kid lunch. That's the parent's job.

[Kayla]

From the time we started school until graduation, my older brother and I ate PB&J sandwiches almost daily. Not because we had to (upper middle class family) but because it was our favorite. Mom would offer to make us sandwiches from tuna, lunch meat, leftover steak, etc. or pay for hot lunch (blech!). We ALWAYS chose PB&J (with yummy homemade jam or jelly). We also had fruit, milk and a cookie...in our opinion a truly gourmet lunch! Most kids ate pretty much the same thing. We always felt sorry for kids who ate hot lunch daily.

Amazingly, I still love PB&Js.

[pineapple]

LOL, I had so much PB n J when I was in elementary school that, as an adult , only starvation could make me eat it now. I can eat a Peanut butter sandwich , and I like Jelly on biscuits or toast, but something about the two together makes me shudder.


My daughter's school, because of the nut allergies, will give the kids a butter sandwich. I know this because my daughter ran out of money for the week because she added extra treats to her lunches earlier in the week shorting her for friday. She didnt tell me, so she got a butter sandwich. She hasnt been getting extra treats lately!

[Ndog3507]

wow..they get to have peanut butter in their school...our school ban it this year....

and our kids get 2 lunch breaks in the day now...they are called nutrition breaks

I think that is a really good idea... I was always hungry in school especially the first half before lunch. I really wish we had two lunch breaks. Being at school from 8-4 is a really long time especially if you have a fast metabolism.

Not receiving "hot" meals means they are getting a cold sandwich and a milk carton. That’s really not that bad for a free lunch.

Cutting cost is good but I would much rather have them cut bank handouts, welfare or any of those type of things. Cutting meals to unfortunate low budget kids is kind of brutal.