No noon meal for kids in debt at middle school

[Penny Lane 8,159]

(CNN) -- Sorry, kid. No money, no lunch.

Students at an Attleboro, Massachusetts, middle school went hungry this week, if they had a negative balance on their pre-paid lunch cards.

Five cents of debt was enough for cafeteria employees at the Coehlo Middle School to instruct kids at least one day this week to dump out the food they would have normally eaten, CNN affiliate WJAR in Rhode Island reported.

About 25 children left the lunchroom with empty stomachs, said Whitson's Culinary Group in a statement. The company runs the school's cafeteria.

Parents were appalled. So was the principal. So was Whitson's.

"I told them this is bullying; that's neglect, child abuse," said parent Jo-An Blanchard.

Principal Andrew Boles apologized and blamed the culinary company. "My expectation is that every child, every adult, every parent, every student, every teacher is respected in this building, and that didn't happen yesterday because of Whitson's," he told WJAR.

Whitson's apologized in a statement and said it was not company policy to deny meals to children. It added that the school district had no official policy on what to do in such situations.

"Employees had taken it upon themselves to institute this change; it was not condoned or approved," said Whitson spokeswoman Holly Von Seggern. "We had absolutely no idea."

Workers in the school's cafeteria work on a contract basis, Boles said. He thinks the decision came from Whitson's.

Whitson's supplies 80 schools in New England with lunch meals, Von Seggern said. CNN could find no previous reports on similar incidents involving the company.

Kids with a negative balance usually receive "a cheese sandwich, a fruit and vegetable, and milk." Then the company contacts the parents about payment.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/05/us/massachusetts-lunch-denied/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

[Karee 4,190]

(CNN) -- Sorry, kid. No money, no lunch.

Students at an Attleboro, Massachusetts, middle school went hungry this week, if they had a negative balance on their pre-paid lunch cards.

Five cents of debt was enough for cafeteria employees at the Coehlo Middle School to instruct kids at least one day this week to dump out the food they would have normally eaten, CNN affiliate WJAR in Rhode Island reported.

About 25 children left the lunchroom with empty stomachs, said Whitson's Culinary Group in a statement. The company runs the school's cafeteria.

Parents were appalled. So was the principal. So was Whitson's.

"I told them this is bullying; that's neglect, child abuse," said parent Jo-An Blanchard.

Principal Andrew Boles apologized and blamed the culinary company. "My expectation is that every child, every adult, every parent, every student, every teacher is respected in this building, and that didn't happen yesterday because of Whitson's," he told WJAR.

Whitson's apologized in a statement and said it was not company policy to deny meals to children. It added that the school district had no official policy on what to do in such situations.

"Employees had taken it upon themselves to institute this change; it was not condoned or approved," said Whitson spokeswoman Holly Von Seggern. "We had absolutely no idea."

Workers in the school's cafeteria work on a contract basis, Boles said. He thinks the decision came from Whitson's.

Whitson's supplies 80 schools in New England with lunch meals, Von Seggern said. CNN could find no previous reports on similar incidents involving the company.

Kids with a negative balance usually receive "a cheese sandwich, a fruit and vegetable, and milk." Then the company contacts the parents about payment.

http://www.cnn.com/2....html?hpt=hp_t2

The parents should stop spending the kids lunch money on crack. Problem solved.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

The parents should stop spending the kids lunch money on crack. Problem solved.

Attleboro, Massachusetts is a crack haven, it's true.

[Karee 4,190]

Attleboro, Massachusetts is a crack haven, it's true.

I'm filling in for Danno. Cut me some slack.

[Merrytooth 5,748]

Well, it is the parents' responsibility that they top up the pre-paid lunch card.

If they don't, then pack your kids own lunch to school, don't expect free handouts.

[Karee 4,190]

Well, it is the parents' responsibility that they top up the pre-paid lunch card.

If they don't, then pack your kids own lunch to school, don't expect free handouts.

You must be new here. This is P&R. Personal responsibility is outlawed. The govt. solves problems here.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

You must be new here. This is P&R. Personal responsibility is outlawed. The govt. solves problems here.

It has nothing to do with the government solving problems. Yes, the cards should have been topped up. But they had plans in place for when this happened, and for some reason, those plans weren't followed. Forcing kids to throw away food they would otherwise eat makes no sense.

We are taking a difference of five cents on some of these cards. Crazy.

Kids with a negative balance usually receive "a cheese sandwich, a fruit and vegetable, and milk." Then the company contacts the parents about payment.

I don't think people actually read the articles posted here, or they quit before the end.

Edited April 5, 2013 by Evylin

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

It has nothing to do with the government solving problems. Yes, the cards should have been topped up. But they had plans in place for when this happened, and for some reason, those plans weren't followed. Forcing kids to throw away food they would otherwise eat makes no sense.

Agree. That's ridiculous. I have an account alert set-up on my daughter's lunch account. If the balance goes below $5.00, I get an email as a reminder that it's time to top up. This morning I had an email that I received in the overnight hours. Her account balance: -$0.25. That means that the account went below $5.00 three days earlier (lunch is $2.25 / day). So I did not get the alert timely which caused her to be short a quarter yesterday. She did eat lunch yesterday and I replenished the account this morning. Guess I'm some deadbeat for relying on the balance alert that I signed up for...

Edited April 5, 2013 by Mr. Big Dog

[Penny Lane 8,159]

Agree. That's ridiculous. I have an account alert set-up on my daughter's lunch account. If the balance goes below $5.00, I get an email as a reminder that it's time to top up. This morning I had an email that I received in the overnight hours. Her account balance: -$0.25. That means that the account went below $5.00 three days earlier (lunch is $2.25 / day). So I did not get the alert timely which caused here to be short a quarter yesterday. She did eat lunch yesterday and I replenished the account this morning. Guess I'm some deadbeat for relying on the balance alert that I signed up for...

Unfortunately, there are people in this forum who a) don't read entire articles before posting about them and then b) try to assume what the article is about afterwards.

The article had nothing to do with demanding free things, government helping solve problems or lacking personal responsibility - yet there are those that assumed it was anyway.

Reading helps.

Your response is exactly what this article is ACTUALLY about - a system that had procedures in place, and they failed and kids weren't permitted to eat their lunches.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Why the #### would they go hungry? Do they starve to death during school holidays? How can they possibly survive the summer without food????????????

Here is how it works...get up 15 minutes earlier (yes, that's right, GET UP OUT OF BED) and make your child a lunch...put it in a colorful super hero lunch box and walk them to the door and make sure they get on the bus. This is not rocket science.

Good grief

[Penny Lane 8,159]

Someone else who, unsurprisingly, missed the point.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Unfortunately, there are people in this forum who a) don't read entire articles before posting about them and then b) try to assume what the article is about afterwards.

The article had nothing to do with demanding free things, government helping solve problems or lacking personal responsibility - yet there are those that assumed it was anyway.

Reading helps.

Your response is exactly what this article is ACTUALLY about - a system that had procedures in place, and they failed and kids weren't permitted to eat their lunches.

And another one that begins with the government feeding the kids. The article assumes the "problem" is a government system that didn't work. I assume the "problem" is a government system. Get rid of it and by brown paper bags to take your lunch in. There is no "system" that would cause my child to "not be permitted" to eat his lunch. My child WILL be "permitted" to eat the lunch I packed for him.

What is wrong with the procedure of the MOTHER or FATHER feeding the kids? Let's start there. And if they have no money, then they get food stamps to buy the PB&J to make sandwiches.

You must be new here. This is P&R. Personal responsibility is outlawed. The govt. solves problems here.

[Marilyn. 340]

this has nothing to do with the government.. it has to do with the employees in the cafeteria taking it upon themselves to enforce something they had no right to enforce..

if you read the article.. if the kids don't have enough money on their card they are supposed to be given a basic lunch and the parents are billed later.. this didn't happen. the kids were forced to dump the food on their trays into the trash ...

Edited April 6, 2013 by Marilyn.

[decocker 7,198]

And another one that begins with the government feeding the kids. The article assumes the "problem" is a government system that didn't work. I assume the "problem" is a government system. Get rid of it and by brown paper bags to take your lunch in. There is no "system" that would cause my child to "not be permitted" to eat his lunch. My child WILL be "permitted" to eat the lunch I packed for him.

as marilyn explained - this has nothing to do with government. a private company takes parents' money on prepaid accounts. i use this service for my son. i have had the same problem mr. big dog had with not realizing the balance was low, once or twice. my son's school will simply send home a sticker as a reminder and give my son a pb & j sandwich, a piece of fruit and a milk - which will be deducted from my next payment.

nobody is going to die without lunch though. i know - all through high school my lunch money paid for my cigarettes.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

this has nothing to do with the government.. it has to do with the employees in the cafeteria taking it upon themselves to enforce something they had no right to enforce..

if you read the article.. if the kids don't have enough money on their card they are supposed to be given a basic lunch and the parents are billed later.. this didn't happen. the kids were forced to dump the food on their trays into the trash ...

Yay, someone who actually read and understood the story.