A cheese sandwich is punishment?

[Disney Doll]

I'm not sure how they'd be able to not single out the cheese sandwich kids.

Put them in a separate room so they can eat their cheese sandwich and not be seen? Then when everyone's asking where Billy is, someone's likely to say "Oh, he's in the cheese sandwich room". If everyone else is eating hot lunch and Billy has a cheese sandwich but is hanging with all his friends, they'll still know he's got free lunch.

Again, there's no good answer and I think the school is oding the best it can under difficult circumstances. Maybe the parents are doing the best they can too, but I'd be feeding my kids before I'd be feeding myself, frankly.

And no, I am not referring to the mother who occasionally forgets to send lunch money or recharge the lunch debit card. That's a mistake, not a habit, and I think we are all smart enough to know the difference.

 

[RitaE]

The only way I could see for the school to not make the cheese sandwich kids look different is to A) Give them the regular lunch which the schools can't afford to do anymore or B) Make EVERYBODY eat the cheese sandwich lunch which isn't such a hot idea either.

Unfortunately, in school kids can't get ridiculed just for having the wrong label on their blue jeans and a shirt that didn't come from Abercrombie. I'm sure that showing up at the lunch table everyday with a tray that marks you can be brutal. I feel for the kids.

But really, the parents need to take responsibility for the situation. Either apply for the free lunch program or get to a food pantry and get some supplies to pack a lunch.

 

[DisDreaminMom]

OK, here is what happened to our family last week RE: cheese sandwich situation...

My family does not qualify for free lunches. Since the school has an a la carte menu, I never know how much money each kid has until they don't have any, give or take a few days. (No internet account info here, either). Normally the cafeteria staff tells my 8 year old DD that she needs to bring $ AND I get a warning letter in the both my kids' folders.

So my Autistic son's teacher sent me an email the other day saying that DS had a "bad day" because he was given a cheese sandwich at school (it was corndog day- his favorite) and BY THE WAY, did I HAPPEN to get a letter in his backpack because she couldn't remember putting it in there.

After school that day, DD tells me that she didn't have to eat a cheese sandwich and she even saw DS sobbing in the cafeteria and was worried about him. I opened his folder and voila- letter from cafeteria was there, dated a week prior. Very nice.

How stingy to give the Special Ed kid a cheese sandwich when he's hysterical. They could have just charged his lunch to his sister's account. It's not a big school-like 200 kids. God forbid someone should think outside the box. I didn't call the local TV station over it, though.

 

[JustcallmeHappy]

Here the kids get a PB sand (No jelly) and water if they have no $$ in the lunch account..

 

[Arielx2]

At our school a PB&J is given if the lunch account is not paid after a certain amount of time. However, a PB&J is also available every day for those kids who do not like the choices available for the regular hot lunch no matter what their lunch account says. Maybe if they made these cheese sandwiches available every day it wouldn't become such a stigma since anyone could choose one.

 

[luvmy3]

How stingy to give the Special Ed kid a cheese sandwich when he's hysterical. They could have just charged his lunch to his sister's account. It's not a big school-like 200 kids. God forbid someone should think outside the box. I didn't call the local TV station over it, though.

In my kids school they are not allowed to charge items to siblings account, unless the parent notifies them in advance that they are allowed to. The cashier cannot take it upon themselves to do it which is probably why they didn't do it with your ds.

 

[glitterkittyy]

At our school a PB&J is given if the lunch account is not paid after a certain amount of time. However, a PB&J is also available every day for those kids who do not like the choices available for the regular hot lunch no matter what their lunch account says. Maybe if they made these cheese sandwiches available every day it wouldn't become such a stigma since anyone could choose one.

That's a good idea.

 

[LindaR]

Well, I LIVE in New Mexico. My daughter (20) and I had a conversation about this last week.

We should be happy that the kids are getting some sort of lunch!

As far as judging the parents and calling them "deadbeat".........I'm sure there are some that ARE lazy. But.....and this will open up ALOT of controversy.....there are tons of parents who are here illegally and/or do not read/speak English. There's alot of cultural "differences" and ANY food is considered a blessing to some.

We are already one of the poorest states, our education system is one of the worst.....most families are below the poverty level. I am so glad that the kids get to eat.

Perhaps the ones who complain about being humiliated ARE from lazy families. The other kids know better and are just happy to get food.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

I agree somewhat. I don't feel badly for the parents. I feel bad that their kids are put in a position to be "different". As I'm sure we all remember, it's hard to be a kid sometimes. If it were my kids, I'd be doing my best to make sure lunches were paid and/or packed each day. But I do feel bad for the kids who are made to stand out in the crowd in a bad way. That's all I'm sayin.

How is this any different than a child wearing Kmart specials when their classmates are sporting Hollister and Abercrombie? Those kids are noticably different too but I'm sure that you would agree that it doesn't mean the school needs to provide them with a wardrobe comparable to their peers'.

The school is doing its best to feed a hungry child. Our school does the same thing for grade school kids. Middle & high school kids go hungry or get their friends to buy them something to eat.

Really, I think that parents who care about how it appears are really focusing on the wrong thing.

 

[EthansMom]

I fail to see how the school feeding a hungry child with no money is a punishment.

The entitled parents and children probably think that the taxpayers should pay for a fancier meal.

Our grade school doesn't have a cafeteria and lunch is brought in from off-site at $3.50-$4 each. It is much cheaper to pack a lunch. The PTO gives the school nurse a stipend to spend on snacks/lunchfoods (usually PB&J) for kids who don't have a lunch.

When I was in middle school, there were a few students who didn't qualify for assistance but whose families didn't really have a lot of money. The school had those kids bus the tables in the lunchroom in exchange for a meal every day. Those poor kids.... working so they could have lunch.

 

[glitterkittyy]

How is this any different than a child wearing Kmart specials when their classmates are sporting Hollister and Abercrombie? Those kids are noticably different too but I'm sure that you would agree that it doesn't mean the school needs to provide them with a wardrobe comparable to their peers'.

The school is doing its best to feed a hungry child. Our school does the same thing for grade school kids. Middle & high school kids go hungry or get their friends to buy them something to eat.

Really, I think that parents who care about how it appears are really focusing on the wrong thing.

I didn't say the school was doing wrong. I just said I feel sorry for the kid. I apparently am not making myself clear.

 

[MM27]

My district uses a food service so the rules are set by them. If a child forgets their lunch or does not have money, they get a voucher for 40 cents and a cheese or pb&j sandwich. The hot lunch is $1.60, so the parents are paying for the sandwich, not the full lunch.

Our old food service used to give the kids the hot lunch and then send the parents a bill.

 

[ctinct]

Oh good grief. I cannot believe parents complain about this stuff. We do the same here....if you do not have a free lunch ticket, and you do not pay your lunch fee for several days, you get a cheese sandwich, milk, and I think a piece of fruit. Many kids actually eat this for weeks on end...for free. Others toss two thirds of it. This happens with the free, reduced, and full pay lunches, too. The school HAS to give milk, etc. , but so many kids toss it, it is a shame.

I work in spec. ed, high school level. We can't even get parents send in diapers/sanitary supplies. Mom who has the girl in diapers gets a supply from the state, and the one girl who consistently needs to borrow sanitary supplies is in a group home, so there should be no financial burden there, either. It's frustrating. Don't even get me started on supplies like pencils and paper. I've pretty much solved the pen/pencil dilemma by requiring a deposit. Give me your cell phone, your I-pod, whatever, and I'll lend you a pencil. At the end of class, we swap back.

 

[waltskids]

Our district where DH and I work use the same system for students/parents who don't pay their outstanding bills to the cafeteria (although sometimes it's a pb&j sandwich if the child can eat it). I see nothing wrong with this.

Oh, and our students are not allowed to charge food to their account for any reason. The same holds true for staff members as well.

 

[AlexTina]

I'm in New Mexico and we do have the ability to pay/check balances online so you don't have to go to the school or send a check and they will allow 5 credits prior to giving your child the "cheese sandwich" if you don't pay once they've used the 5 credits well then you get a cheese sandwich. They even send you an e-mail reminder when you reach your low balance. Also when registering your child they send all of the paperwork home to fill out for free/reduced lunch so if you do it when registering your child you don't even have to make a trip to the school. When they first started the cheese sandwich thing a few months back they sent numerous notes home and had messages on the schools marque to come in and fill out the paperwork for the free/reduced lunch, aparently it only takes 10 minutes. There's was tons of notice that they were going to be implementing this and if you had a balance you needed to make arrangements to pay it. If these people didn't take the time to pay or fill out the paperwork then they should be happy that their kids are getting anything.

Tina

 

[dvcnewgirl]

I agree with having the cheese sandwich available everyday to everyone. Then they are not singled out and the school is not losing out either.

 

[disykat]

My kid's school did this. I spent lots of time in the lunchroom and never heard any taunting about those who have cheese sandwiches. Someone is making a big deal out of nothing IMO.

 

[Chuck S]

Actually, I don't know why it isn't like it was when I was in school in the olden days. For elementary aged children, meals were a set price, the price did not vary daily. We paid for 10 days in advance. We were issued punch cards with 10 punch spots. The cards were collected daily by the cafeteria staff, punched, and then given to the teacher the next day to distribute to the kids prior to lunch time.

If we brought food from home, we simply didn't use the punch for that day, and it remained on the account. Now, given internet technology, with a set price daily, the parent could easily look up an account and see how many lunches are left on the account, no guessing about variable pricing.

Of course, the cafeteria didn't serve sugary drinks, it was milk only, and the meals were well balanced. The only "special" meals were for children with allergies, no "picky eaters preferences." The menus were set in advance, too, and printed in the newspaper (the schools today could easily send a calendar home) and if the child didn't like the offering, the option is to pack a lunch.

We didn't have variable menus until Jr. High School, and even then, it was a set price. Variable prices with all kinds of food choices were offered in High School, when the student should be responsible enough to either pack their lunch or bring cash.

 

[tink_n_pooh]

I'm glad I'm not the only one that thought the cheese sandwich argument is a little over board. I would be happy that my kid is eating... I wish someone would give me a cheese sandwich when I can't afford to buy a hot lunch or I forget my lunch at home

And I can understand that the kids might be getting picked on because they are eating the infamous cheese sandwich - hey guess what, they will find something else to pick on someone for

Your damned if you do, damned if you don't

 

[disneyjunkie]

There's no way for the school to win in this situation. Hand out cheese sandwiches and folks will complain. Allow the kids to have the regular lunch, and some folks will never pay.

Many schools are required to toss extra food in the trash.

It would be interesting to see how many schools handing out cheese sandwiches are throwing away the other food at the end of the day.