Reports of 'lunch shaming' prompt Greenwood Schools to suspend cold sandwich policy

[Muda69]

https://www.indystar.com/story/news/2019/05/22/lunch-shaming-indiana-cold-sandwich-greenwood/3765217002/

Quote

Two days before summer break, Greenwood schools won't enforce its cold-sandwich policy after a kindergarten student's family said she was shamed because she didn't have money to pay for lunch.

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"When she was talking to me about it, she was more than sad," the girl's grandfather, Dwight Howard, told WISH-TV (Channel 8). "I mean, that's embarrassing for a little 6-year-old."

Howard did not respond to messages from IndyStar seeking comment Wednesday.

DeKoninck said media reports of the incident were not entirely accurate but he declined to say what may have been wrong.

He said he met with the child's family on Tuesday. The school and her family are now "on the same page," he said.

"They have a better understanding of the events that actually happened and we're in a good spot," DeKoninck said. "We came to a real good understanding of the situation."

Greenwood's cafeteria policy, like that of many suburban districts, calls for students to be served an "alternate meal" when their individual cafeteria funds dipped into the red.

The Indiana Department of Education allows these alternate meals as long as districts spell out the policy for parents.

Greenwood Schools notifies parents when lunch accounts dip below $5. It typically allows students to charge up to two lunches before they get cut off, but DeKoninck said they don't allow any cafeteria debts during the last two weeks of the school year.

DeKonink said the district plans to review its meal charging policy.

"We'll take a look at our processes as well to see how we can do things better," he said.

The controversy comes as discussion of alternate meals is gaining attention nationwide. A Rhode Island school recently changed its policy after an outcry. 

A sensible and reasonable policy by the Greenwood government schools.  Yet a child's "feelings" and the parent/guardian's desire to get something for free trump personal responsibility.  Sorry, the government school administrators should have stood behind their policy.