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Subscribe to RSSAn Ohio school district has hired a collection agency to prove to students and their parents that there’s no such thing as a free lunch.
The Columbus City Schools hope to recover an estimated $900,000 in unpaid lunch money from almost 6,000 students. The district loses roughly $2,622 every school day in unpaid lunches, according to a report on NBC4i.com. Most of the delinquent accounts average between $150 and $170, according to Meade and Associates, the collection agency in Westerville hired by the district to collect the money.
“Our goal is to recover the balance in full,” Sean Meade, client relations manager, told msnbc.com. But he added, “we’re here to help,” so if “payment arrangements are needed, we’ll work with the family.”
Columbus City Schools did not return a call from msnbc.com. Unpaid-for lunches are not unique to Columbus. Across the country, districts are struggling as the ailing economy brings more students to school without lunch money.
“It’s one of those issues that we’re seeing more of,” Diane Pratt-Heavner of the Maryland-based School Nutrition Association told msnbc.com. The group recently surveyed 964 of its members. Fifty-three percent said they had seen increases in the number of students unable to pay for lunch.
Schools have been trying to balance budget cuts with new federal nutrition standards that are expected to increase the cost of meal preparation. In response, Pratt-Heavner said her group would like Congress to require the U.S. Department of Agriculture to spell out how schools should respond to requests for unpaid lunches and how to manage the debt.
“The people working in our school cafeterias are not in this line of work for the money – they want to serve all their kids – but at the end of the day, the new nutrition standards for school meals are raising the cost of serving school meals, and school nutrition programs simply cannot afford to allow unpaid meal charges go unchecked,” Pratt-Heavner told msnbc.com.
Until then, school districts continue to make accommodations for students who can’t pay. Some offer alternative meals of cheese or peanut butter sandwiches. Districts also try various methods of collecting debts, such as phone calls and letters to parents.
Pratt-Heavner said more districts are turning to collection agencies.
Meade told msnbc.com his agency will start contacting parents by early April, using phone calls and letters. Of every dollar collected, the company will earn 26 cents in commission.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News
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Why not just give everyone a peanut butter sandwich, a piece of fruit, some carrot sticks and a carton of milk? It would cover the food group, be healthy and nutritious, and eliminate a whole bunch of waste.
Sheila in several schools peanuts or anything with nuts including oils are not allow. This is just another case of the down and out getting kicked. If you noticed the cuts governments are making - it is to the most vulnerable - kids, elderly, unemployed who are really trying to find a job any job.
How do you get lunch if you don't pay? Do they just serve you anyway?
Sheila with the number of peanut allergies out there we might be killing off a significant number of the students. You can't simply avoid giving them peanut butter because just the close proximity to the peanuts can set off the allergy.
Why hasn't the school held the students grades until they pay for their lunches? No grades, no moving on to the next grade.
You are completely disgusting. Saying that children should be kept back and denied their rightful education or not receive the grades they earned because their parents are too poor to pay for lunch is speaks of the kind of person you really are. I feel sorry that your life has made you such a miserable creature.
Too many kids are allergic to peanuts these days to give everyone peanut butter. Also, how healthy it is depends on whether they use white bread vs. whole wheat and how much peanut butter is on a slice. So, it's the food NAZI's vs. the parents. How healthy it things are also entirely depends upon one's perspective. If one is a vegan, they don't consider things healthy that normal people do.
Why are the liberals going to learn there is no free lunch. I would like to know if the parents of these children have computers, satellite tv systems, cable tv systems, how many cartons of beer a week do they drink, how many packs of cigarettes do they smoke, how many times a week do they go out to eat, cell phones etc.
First is the food, then the roof, then the education and many, many people have their hands out and bite you if you don't fill that hand. Look at the story today about the lottery winner with $500,000 in her pocket and two houses collecting food stamps.
Unfortunately people, grown ups have to be taught and the children have to suffer.
Stereotype much Woodlawn? Get over yourself already. In my town we have a ton of families out of work unable to afford even basic necessities and you just spout off a bunch of nonsense without knowing facts.
KevinH Get off it KevinH, I grew up poor. We were so poor that I didn't know we were poor. All my toys fit in a shopping bag. I was glad to have a house and heat and we shared the house with two other families that were relatives. Yet every day, I got my .50 for lunch and that was it. No allowance, no extra money for anything. But my parents didn't smoke or drink!
Deadbeat parents teaching their kids how to screw the system - typical of lowlife Americans today unfortunately
And the republicans want to leave things like "social security" and "health care" up to the states? I hope these parents see'em in hell before they pay a penny.
We use to have a policy that if you owed lunch money that you couldn't go to the football or basketball games until you paid the IOU to the office. Never had a child miss a game. They would always have popcorn and coke money and would pay up before the game.
Lovesmyfamily Take your disgust and your ignorance (no where in the story, if you'd have bothered to read it, was it referred that the parents were too poor to pay for their kids lunches), add $3.00 and go buy yourself a Happy Meal. You deserve it.
Its called States rights, the constitution clearly defines the role of the Federal GVT and it does not include intrusion into the private lives of citizens to include areas such as social security or healthcare - only the states have right to tax and provide those services.
They should do this..bad enough there are a lot of town tax payers without childen and have to support/paying for the school district..either feed your kids before school or pony up!!!
65% of you RE taxes is for schools..having childern or not..doesn't matter.
Well in my southern state the school district figured out 90% of the kids qualified for free or reduced price lunch. So they saved the cost of processing the paperwork instead and just gave every kid lunch for free. It was cheaper. Sometimes us rednecks find simple solutions. We also run a summer lunch program no reason for the tykes to go hungry for three months.
Money games" freeloading districts make me nauseated who would want their food anyway...Fact is when I was in school lunch was free and why not it tasted like crap what has changed" the food has gotten worse.
Sandra Fluke wants (and may get) free contraceptives for college girls, where is the champion for free lunches for school children?
You are correct This is too often, although to be fair, not always the case.
I think the schools need to straighten up their "spine" and not allow this to happen in the first place. In our school district, you can "charge" up to 3 days before you are officially cut off. No if, ands, or buts. On day 4 you don't get to eat. Works well, as it's rare that it EVER get to that. If the school sets a policy of Expecting to be paid, they will. If you let kids/parents keep getting free meals, well guess what, they will take advantage of it. As the old saying goes, if you want to encourage more of something, subsidize it.
Which brings me to the subject of the government's free lunch program. We have our share of kids who qualify - about 20+%. Are these kids ashamed of being on this program like you libs like to claim. He[[ no! At my daughter's middle school, the kids who get free lunch loudly and proudly call the others who pay full price "SUCKAS" and they love to exclaim it at every opportunity at lunch. Chew on that !!!!!
While I agree with this on principle, imagine the outraged screams from the parents and the hysterical news stories about the schools refusing to feed the poor hungry kids. How dare they?! Little Billy or Susy can't be expected to sit in class all day without eating! There would, of course, be no mention of the fact that their lunch payments hadn't been made.
Close the cafeteria down and forget about it.
I have never attended a school, that served food.
@Lovesmyfamily
Those that are "too poor to pay" get free lunches via the program. The people the that are being made to cough up are those that have the money but do not pay their bill. See some students get lunch money but little do their parents know the kid spends the money on other things! Shocker I know....
How do I know? I was once one of them. I spent my lunch money on cigarettes instead of lunch. I however did not try to mooch a free lunch. I figured some how my parents would get a call from the school and I would have to explain where my lunch money had gone... Man if they knew it went to smokes my behind would have been the next thing smoking!
Learn how the program works...... and quit being a lemming following what the Libs say just because their lips move. Educate yourself on the subject.
Yes. They do exactly that. In our district, it's called an "overlimit lunch", which means that if the child doesn't have money on their account, they can still get a lunch (or a cookie, or a drink, or whatever else), and it will be charged to their account.
Here come the bleeding heart liberals to make up sob stories for deadbeat parents who are too lazy to pay for their own kid's lunch. I bet you that in every of those "poor" households sits a nice big screen tv, among other luxuries.
Oh and I forgot to mention in my post 1.19 above that these kids who get the free lunch and call the other kids who pay full price "SUCKAS" are the kids who all conveniently have the 4G smart phones with data plans !!! My daughter and other kids just want to slap them, and I cannot blame them one bit. I'm so sick and tired of this kind of crap.
There are free and reduced price lunch programs... if they qualify. Everyone is saying the "poor families" are not the ones paying. If they are truly poor, then they are either already on the free lunch program or the parents need to apply for it. The ones who are on the reduced priced program may be the ones who are not paying. Some of them don't qualify for the free lunches because they make just over the cut off limit... which could be just $25/month too much. Or the ones not paying could be the "rich" families.
Why is it when something like this is reported people automatically assume only the poor people aren't paying? There are rich people who don't think they have to pay their bills too you know.
As a teacher, I've seen it all - non-working moms with new cars BUT whose kids are on free lunch and breakfast! I'm finally realizing what a middle-class sucker I am -good, little girl putting myself through college, teacher's college, and getting a Master's degree. What was the point? I only have two children - I would have loved more but didn't think I could provide them with a quality life, i.e., attention, pay for their college, and provide them with enrichment opportunities. Yet, welfare moms have as many kids as they want and get endless free stuff! Good old Mrs. Jobs will even provide for illegals' education while I scrimp and save to pay for EVERYTHING my children get! And, I'm taxed at a ridiculous rate!
The rich and the poor are exactly the same - spongers of the misguided middle-class. Hey, middle-class, start looking after yourself because noone else will!
Though they may be a minority, there are parents who are able to pay for lunches but prefer to let their children eat the alternate peanut butter/whatever lunch every single day while they spend their money elsewhere once they figure out they can get away with it. I've seen it happen more than once or twice or thirty or a hundred. They simply don't care. Kids who are eligible apply and get free or at least reduced lunches. If people make too much money to get even reduced lunches should have the resources to pay for school lunches or brown bag it. But they don't. Because there are parents who simply don't care. Or who are clueless. We have a mother at my school who bought two of her daughters iPods (elementary age) for Christmas, but who insists the school is responsible for supplying her girls with gym shoes for gym class and even mittens. The gym teacher finally gave both girls extra gym shoes that were in really decent shape, and the girls took them home and their mother threw them away because they weren't good enough so the girls are back to flunking gym class because they can't participate.
Shelia says why not just give the kids peanut butter (or cheese) crackers, fruit, carrots, and a carton of milk, but who exactly is supposed to pay for that? A fruit, a vegetable and a carton of milk are included in every school lunch and that's half the price of a whole paid lunch.
I doubt anyone but the cafeteria workers and other lunch supervisors have any idea how much food children throw away every single day. Their parents have their children order the school lunch whether they like it or not or without looking at the menu. There are kids who don't even open their lunch or who just take a peak at it without tasting it and throw it away. A lot of those kids get paid lunches, but an awful lot of them get free lunches. The kids throwing away the free lunches must not be starving at home.
I don't think there should be totally free lunches at all because like welfare it often allows the individuals not to take responsibility for other parts of their lives. It seems to me that parents should have to give their kids at least a dime for lunch every day, a dime the kid has to slide into a little brown envelope like everyone else so they get the idea they are accountable at least in a small way. That's fifty cents a week, all of three dollars if there are six children in the home. That's one heck of a lot cheaper than any packed lunch.
So a bunch of deadbeats figured the kind hearted people at the school would feed their kids for free and they were right. I would bet alot of money that the vast majority of these people smoke, drink, have cell phones, nice cars, big TV, etc etc etc. They just can't resist taking advantage of the system.
Sandra Fluke did not ask for free contraceptives for the reasons being given here. She was testifying for a friend who needed contraceptive medication to treat a serious illness; and many others need these medications for the same or other medical reasons than protection from HIV or pregnancy. Wake up people you can find her testimony in full, stop taking the word of other people like Russ Limbaugh, who by the way blasted off without hearing her testimony. He not only turned his wrath on an individual exercising her free speech rights, but he even suggested she and friends post on the Internet photos of themselves having sex. How low can one man sink??
When I was one of eight siblings being raised by a divorced mother who did house cleaning and recieved some welfare aid for dependent children, there were no free school meals and only light hot meals were available for a price, a paper cup of milk was 3 cents (which could be charged) and a student was entitled to one half sandwitch of peanut butter and honey or cheese and mayo and some carrot or celery sticks for free. Most of the time that was all I had for lunch, and I grew up to be a healthy, very athletic boy...And in those times child odesity were very rare
Mabey it is time we focus more on education than full tummys' at school
Why is this news? Is the writer or editors MSNBC news trying to shame the school district into giving free lunches? Now every other school district with the same problem is going to be reticent in pursuing what is rightfully owed them. Who will pay? Why the good folks of the school districts who work hard, own property and pay their bills.
Some here will claim that every child has a right to a good meal. That is correct. However, if the child's family is able to pay, then the municipality funding the schools have a legitimate right, perhaps even a duty to taxpayers, to go to reasonable lengths to collect. Not doing so will only help to increase the supreme sense of unfair entitlement that seems to run rampant in this country.
Oh for crying out loud, what is the matter with you people?? My comment #1.19 above gets collapsed. For what?? I simply stated how our own school district handles this type of issue and then relayed how kids at school who DO pay full price for lunches get shouted down and called "Suckas" by the kids who get Free lunch. (If it makes you feel better, rest assured that yes, they are all white kids). Grow up already !!
PlainTruthNC
Exactly. Why I closed my business and moved out of country as an expat. Socialist agenda is out of control. I would die before my child set foot in a public school for a single day. This type of thing is not transparent to the children. I like the children knowing that they will be made to pay if they do not pay their bills. The liberal agenda that turns paying your bills into
You are targeting a race
You are targeting poor helpless and down
You can't do that... it should be free
Just makes me vomit a little in my mouth. Everyone with an education can see this will not last much longer. You can see when the socialist faucet is turned off there will be billions in the USA that won't know how to feed themselves via paying or raising their own food.
I am with Fox Moulder.. this has to be an alien experiment with the deepest ties into the Fed Gov.
From what I hear Santorum has an answer to this... just home school your kids.
\sarcasm
Mark-1219747, so you're living someplace where there is no public school for kids?
The right wing are under some fallacy that if we force the middle and lower classes out of the school systems and shut down public education that it in turn will lower their property taxes. No education = we can pay them in cash under the table and they will feel grateful. We'll call them private contractors. This in turn will force the illegals to leave the country as they will no longer be able to work for 4 to 5 dollars an hour as private contractors as the uneducated liberal little people will be more than eager to work 16 hour days for 2 dollars an hour and live in the tent cities we make for them outside the city limits. Kind of how the Kuwaitis do it.
jac-931625 Wear it as a badge of honor when your blog is collapsed. It usually means that your point is unarguable. It also brings much more attention to your blog as people normally want to see why it's been collapsed.
Everything you've said rings as true.
SteveH (1.18) nice post.... very ironic, wouldn't you say!
@ AG99
Yes. The school gives them lunch out of the kindness of their hearts. They are not obligated in any ways to serve anyone without money who has not filled out the proper documents for free or reduced lunch.
I'm a 19 year old college student. I graduated high school about almost two years ago. I remember seeing kids who "forgot" their lunch money almost every day. And the school still served them lunch.
Free lunches were offered. It consisted of a peanut butter and "jelly" sandwich and a cup of fruit, with some milk. They didn't use jelly though. They used honey for some reason and still called it jelly. I'm still trying to figure that out. May have just been cheaper. I don't know.
The school finally decided a way to deal with the unpaid lunches though. If you don't pay your lunch fees, you didn't get to walk the day you graduated. (I don't know if they just held your diploma, or didn't let you walk)
Bottom line: The school is well within it's rights to collect the money. If the student can't afford the lunches, they should have given the proper documents to their parents for free or reduced lunches.
And before saying the child may be embarrassed, the free and reduced lunches are kept discreet from the rest of the student body. Other students would never know. Even in the lunch line. We had our own accounts that you could deposit lunch money into in advance. So if anyone asked, you could just say the money was already in the account. This isn't the case in some schools. But most.
This situation is not being fairly represented in this article. In our school, 56% of the kids qualify for free or reduced lunch (.40). The other students either pay for lunch (1.95) or bring their lunches. Some parents may choose not to apply for the free/reduced program even though they qualify and some may be too lazy to apply but those are choices. The parents in this article who have not paid are not paying because they choose not to and because there have been no consequences for not paying. Most of them are simply taking advantage of the kind-hearted school staff and it is low.
Yes, indeed. The conservative mentality = make sure that they get born so the rich will have a workforce. Make sure they don't aspire to be anything. That's for snobs. Stop making education and programs that help ordinary people suffer while defense gets an increase. Let's cut what we consider unworthy programs--planned parenthood, NPR. "Defense" is what's it's all about these days. We have 11 carriers and flotillas of 20 more ships cruising the world, flexing muscle, while we worry about a kids lunch. What? spending 7 times what China does and 11 times what Russia spends is not enough. I could never imagine this society where a bullet is more meaningful that feeding a child. they give away the money--check opensecrets.org and check your congressperson or senator. They take money from companies that have no business in their own state. Their are very few Liberals in Congress and I don't mean that "D" next to someone's name--weak because, of the top 10 recipients of defense contractors cash, 5 have "D's" next to their name and 5 have "R" next to theirs. There's becoming no difference in the Plutocracy of Americas. Catchy new name when the country falls to the squeeze the middle class downward, while the uber -rich are getting richer.
The US Federal Government gives MORE $$$$ to schools that give out FREE LUNCH!! Can any sane person out there FINALLY make a connection????
Actually.. you are exactly right on a few points. I do want our federal government to protect the sovereignty of our country. Primarily.. that is what I want them to do.
Children who need help should get help. Have them work or do something for it.. teach them solid principals instead of giving it to them. They should have options when their parents either will not, or cannot pay for their lunch.
There is no reason children should go hungry in this country.. and it all starts at home.
Back in the day when I had to walk 3 miles uphill to and from school, most brought our own lunch and bought (aka milk money) a carton or two of white milk. Remember all those lunch boxes that are collectible today?
To think that our liberal/progressives can't see how their attitudes have given us a society of entitlement, rather than that of giving our fellow man a HAND UP in time of temporary need to one of promoting a HAND OUT 24/7.
On a side note, I work in commercial construction (schools, medical facilities, etc) and bought many "school lunches". Not gourmet dining but decent with most of the meals prepared off site or straight from the freezer and reheated.
What struck me the most is the amount of food that the students just threw out, a lot!
I think liberals/progressives understand that you can't let children starve to teach parents a lesson. They also understand that without social programs, our homeless population would be astronomical and we'd be back in the dark ages of work houses and indentured servitude. Wouldn't that make for a nice Dickensian holiday season for the rich? To give out pennies to the begging children on the street at Christmas time? Do you think that choking off food aid would just force everyone into jobs that don't exist and change their culture? It's not likely.
The reality, you see, is that welfare has a time limit and strict work search requirements is almost no money per month. Not even enough to cover your heating bills. Usually people are not getting enough in food stamps to feed their entire family so they're existing on cheap food with no nutritional value. These people lead hard lives in hard neighborhoods, so their focus is daily survival. Lots of kids know that lunch money is the very last priority for their parents who are trying daily not to get evicted or keep their lights on.
It's got to be Bush's fault!!!
Personally, I wish I had a job, where I could take a day off (unlike Hopey McChange, who's off about every other week), so maybe I could buy a little bit of gas for a simple heap of a car, that I wish I could afford, so I can drive to the grocery store and pick up a bag of dry beans to feed to the family that I wish I could provide for...
'Cause all this Hopey McChange magic stuff seems to be working out quite well?
Or not!
There are a lot of accusations and suppositions flying around on this post.
My son often brings home those slips of paper saying he needs more money in his lunch account. He gets reduced lunch. Sometimes his account will be negative for a week or more. He gets reduced lunch, which here is a dollar a day, I think, for lunch and breakfast. So it's about $28 a month. I have the money, I just forget sometimes. A few times, he's had the money in his backpack for a week, forgetting about it every day, until I finally get sick of reminding him and take it to the cafeteria myself.
As for accountability, don't make such generalizations about people you don't know. We have a mortgage, but both our cars are paid for (paid cash, he bought his before we met, mine we bought with a cash settlement from the person who wrecked our last car and filled in the gaps with our tax return). We have a lot of TVs, every single one of them given to us by someone in the family who bought a new set. The only things we have in our home that we paid for are the couches, computer, and washing machine. So you can't look at what we have and assume that we shouldn't need help at all. Just because I have a car from the last decade, or we have smart phones (which we also didn't pay for; we got a free upgrade from the company once the phones were old enough) or whatever. Anyone saying that obviously doesn't know how to spend wisely, or else they wouldn't go broke getting crap that doesn't matter. Do you know how many times over the years we had money to buy a new TV or iPad or whatever? We don't spend our money on stuff like that. The last video game console we had was an old N64 that my brothers didn't want. It broke, and we haven't bought one to replace it. Don't care, it's not important. We'll take what someone else doesn't want, but I don't need a Wii bad enough to spend my son's lunch money on it, or make him go without getting to play baseball or join Scouts for it. Get a clue. There are ways to live a decent lifestyle even if you don't have a lot of money, and I don't appreciate being called lazy or irresponsible just because I qualify for help and happen to know enough people to furnish my whole house with their castoffs, not to mention that we're not too proud to actually do so.
The free lunch program is a federal program available to all public schools. I can imagine that most of these delinquent accounts are from kids that don't like their brown bag lunches or pocket the lunch money to abuse the system.
The article states that, " Districts also try various methods of collecting debts, such as phone calls and letters to parents." It is the parent's responsibility to apply for the free lunch program or furnish lunch for their kids. The parents that ignore those letters and calls ought to face a collection agency (that can do serious harm to their credit rating). Evidently, the schools are not refusing to feed these kids. That's why the amount is so high.
This issue is much more to do with irresponsible parenting than feeding poor kids. I fully support the schools in this case.
I say this as a poor kid in the 60'. There was no free lunch program. I carried an aspirin to fight hunger pains instead of lunch money. I stayed outside the building during lunch period to avoid the delicious smells coming from the cafeteria.
Columbus City Schools record keeping is faulty - many children who qualify for the free lunches are showing up as owing money.
School: "Give me your lunch money"! Student: "The bully already took it"! School: "We're turning you into a collection agency"! Student: "The bully said he is your collection agency"!
I was born in Columbus and raised in the southern hills of Ohio. I remember now why I hated Columbus when my single mother moved us back to the city. Nasty 10 yr. olds(my age) that bragged about sitting up front to look up the teacher's dress. Delinquents proud of shop-lifting from Mom & Pop stores. Thugs that raped a young pregnant woman by breaking into her locked car in broad daylight in a south-side super market parking lot as the curious proud citizens of Columbus looked on while too cowardly to offer help. I didn't know then if that was a common trait of big cities or a peculiar trait of Columbus, Ohio.
I got the hell out as soon as I became of age. I have been a proud liberal living on the west coast of Florida in the midst of aging strict conservatives since I was 19. I have not changed and from the above comments, Columbus has not changed. You still expect something for nothing and a free lunch whether or not you qualify for it. God help you.
Lovesmyfamily, you are suspended for a day for violating rule # 1 of the Code of Honor.
I live in Perris Ca. It's a rural town and yet every kids breakfast and lunch is paid for. Even when their parents make to much to qualify for free lunch. Every kid is fed. How is it that our school district (who also has one of the best autism programs) can do it but districts in Ohio can't? Everything here costs a lot more than in Ohio yet we still do it. It's a crock of sh!t and a excuse. Maybe they need to get rid of all the administrators and their assistants they don't really need.
You don't do anything, unless you are school superintendant of your school district. Do not take credit where credit is not due. California is broke, last I checked, perhaps it's because of all of the free breakfasts and lunches. Every area is not set up the same nor does every school district in America get the same amount of money per student. You are in no position to judge. They have every right to go after people who don't qualify for free lunch. I've seen what doesn't qualify for free or reduced lunch and it's almost mind-boggling what they consider poverty-stricken.
This the EXACTLY why we are headed for serious financial trouble as a nation ... too many "Liberals Can Eat Me" who have came to accept anything and everything can/should be provided "free". Apparently California has a lot of hybrid "money trees" that grow unlimited amounts of cash to be used to create "utopia" where the future is of no concern, as it is assumed the "money trees" will continue to produce prolifically.
Liberals Can Eat Me Yesterday on msnbc.com Ohio was listed as one of the worst states to live in with terrible debts and unemployment.
The school district has to pay the food suppliers. The school district if it doesn't have the money has to borrow from the city. The city has to borrow from the state and the state has to issue bonds to pay the city for the school district to pay the food suppliers.
Ohio credit rating went from AAA to AA+ to AA- to AA. That means that Ohio has to pay more interest on the bonds it issued and the bonds have decreased in value.
Some one has to pay the piper and it has to be the parents to the tune of $900,000. plus collection costs.
The problem is that there are too many people expecting something for nothing. I remember in Junior high school and high school every student paid for his lunch. There was nothing free. The lunches and milk was cheap and good.
Actually it has been demonstrated that children should have a protein breakfast to learn better.
So two meals should be provided and the parents have to pay. They created the children, it is their responsibility. Work an extra hour for the money for the school lunch. A friend of mine actually works in a school cafeteria.
I'm surprised that EVERY child in your school district gets free breakfast and lunch. Here in NJ breakfast is no longer served in the elmentary and middle schools and the lunch charge is dependent upon grade level - elementary is one price then it goes up as the students get older. I think it's a huge waste of money to have a collection agency collect the money. I agree with one comment suggesting they hold the student's report card until the bill is paid. They do that here if you have unpaid library fines or if you didn't return your textbook at the end of the year,
Simple solution-If the kid does not have enough money,don't let him take the schools food.Most schools do food can drives for poor families,but that's a fundraiser.The school should not allow to give free lunches away with OUR tax money.
F Walsh but Texas isn't broke and we still take care of our kids. Summer lunch and Saturday movie program. We do have princepals who can arm twist parents and bus drivers into helping better than a loan shark. Need more money take what you have buy a popcorn machine and sell bags as the kids leave. We funded interesting stuff with popcorn money.
When I went to elementary school we had a lunch break..but since it was a big city type school we went home for lunch. But in the 2nd-4th grades we had a cookie and milk break also..I recall if you couldn't afford the cookies and milk my teacher told me to place my head on the desk and take a nap ( my mom was raising four children alone due to a drunken father..she had no money for this cookie/milk break.. 1960's had no laws about this then).
My mom is in a hospital right now..she will be 88 years old next month, but she is dieing..She is my hero!
It's called tax cuts for the rich and corporations, which leaves the less fortunate eating dirt and yelloow snow cones. You can thank the present Ohio governor for that.
As far as I'm concerned, EVERY kid going to school should get a free lunch (and breakfast too), no questions asked. It makes a heck of a lot more sense to buy the farmer's crops and feed them to this nation's kids than paying farmers to leave land empty or grow corn. There should not be hungry kids in this nation, i don't care if their parents are deadbeats.
I agree with itgranny. There is no reason whatsoever for American children to do without lunch. All American children should receive lunch (and breakfast) in school free of charge. People need to see how Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, and other oil rich Saudi nations treat their citizens. Shame on those who think that children should go hungry in the richest, and the most powerful nation on the face of the earth!
Since when were we one of the richest countries?
lmao living in the past much? Like 50+ years
jljohn51
http://illuminate.newsvine.com/
This website (aquired from jljohn's own site...just created) is the breed of jljohn51. Pure, unfiltered Liberalism in a world where everybody gets what they need on the backs of the working American.
It's NOT about children jljohn...it's about people carrying around devices that require a $750 a year contract (IE "cellphone" complete with internet) who thinks that food, utilities, and rent are somehow a luxury they can't afford!!
LCEM...you're comparing apples to oranges...The School District cited in the article is an entire urban school system that contains 125 schools and educates over 55,000 students, not some rural, 1-school district that probably has less than 500 students...
...and I just can't help it...but with a name like that, it's seems a little odd that you'd be arguing for lunches to be paid for...just saying...
By God, if a kid is hungry, feed him. We are not yet a third world country. Feed the hungry children and then question the parents as to why the child is hungry. If the parent does not have the means, then help the parent gain those means. Who are you to sit on your laurels and judge another? Despite wide held beliefs, most of our good fortune is passed on by our elders, not our own hard work.
You were raised in a nice home with three squares everyday. You were sent to school with decent clothing to blend in with your friends. You got a car for your sixteenth birthday. Your parents provided a college fund to assure your higher education. Wise parents may have insisted you work at a pizza joint 10 hours a week to supplant your spending allowance while in college( It was never about the money, but to keep you out of trouble from having too much free time).
Then you stand proud and say, "I worked hard for everything I have!" You did not! You were given everything possible to assure your success. You look down your noses at the cleaning lady that scrubs your toilets and mops your floors. She was raised by impoverished parents that could offer her nothing but a strong work ethic. She is the one that worked hard for the little that she has. She should look down her nose at you. You were always privileged as he had to compete with other hard workers to get her job. She is the one that deserves the respect that you demand.
Why are we wasting money in Afghanistan when we can't even feed children in the USA?????
Get the troops out so we are not wasting millions every day over there and let them figure out how to fix their own country!
Um, what do the troops have to do with this?? You're dreaming if you think they'll ever fully come home. We'll always have soldiers out there.
Sounds like you commented on the wrong item.
Sounds like they are commenting on the right item. Our priorities are screwball in the country.
If those troops weren't doing what they do, and what they have done.... you, me, that school, Ohio...all of it would be German, Japanese or you name it. So, really... go live in wherever you think it's any better. What a pathetic, overused excuse for an argument.
And btw, if some of these school admins weren't so unqualified and inept, these would not be problems. See school districts and funding systems that work.
E3PO...............well said Sir, my thoughts exactly!!
You're seriously likening WWII to the occupancy in Afghanistan? That's apples and oranges, two completely different issues.
it's called an example, hence "or you name it". Pick whatever US foreign interest or historical involvement that you want. Point was (since it sailed way over someone's head), if we deny global interests and/or do what is often suggested and withdraw from areas like Afghanistan... can you guess what happens? Clue: it was the worst terror attack in history, roughly 10.5 yrs ago, it happened b/c we we're soft and rolling in our tech boom/money... yeah.
Btw, I hate apples.
Well, you must love lemons then to be so sour in you views. Our job in Afghanistan was to track down those responsible for 9/11 and the ones protecting them. That goal was lost due to the distraction of Iraq, but now that the job is done, we should leave. Let them handle their own nation building, especially since they don't want us there to begin with. We need to start building our nation back up but can't because of all the money we're wasting over there.
your right and germany and japan can feed their hungry kids but not americans imagine that.
Ah, what's sour about my views? I'd like 9/11 not to happen again. Yourself? And are you going to tell me Al-Q and Taliban are taken care of? Ah... no.
Original point stands: Saying we should pull foreign aid to fix school lunch programs is just stupid.
So you still live in fear of another attack 10 years later... I pity those like you.
And also... a military occupation is NOT foreign aid.
So you still live in fear of another attack 10 years later... I pity those like you.
You say that like no terrorist attack has happened anywhere. Or at least been attempted. Remember the underwear bomber? Remember Major Nidal Malik Hasan? The U.S. Army soldier who shot up Fort Hood after expressing extremist views?
Yeah, I remember that failed attempt and domestic incident. I also remember Columbine... VA Tech... the Ohio school shooting just days ago. All that changes nothing. I refuse to live my life in constant fear of what 'may' happen. A life of fear is not really a life at all.
Smh. The collection get 234000 from it. You know they will collect every cent. I feel bad for the kids.
They hired a collection agency to collect on average $150-$170??? And paying the collection agency (aka bottom feeders) 26cents on the dollar? I hope the people of that district remember that school board at election time. And then the new board can fire that Superintendent
.
Well if you can't afford the $150-$170 dollars all you have to do is show the school you are, unemployed etc etc etc and apply for the free lunch program. That way the school district is reimbursed. Most of those people are just gaming the system. They can afford it but choose not to pay. My school district a few years ago passed a bus fee everyone had to pay whether you used the bus or not. It was a whopping $10 one time fee. Due to the fuel price jumps under Bush. At the next school-board meeting a parent(a man) shouted and yelled throughout the meeting that he could not afford it. The police had to tell him to stop disrupting the meeting or they would escort him out. After the meeting he and I left at the same time. Our cars where next to each other. His was a brand new(sticker still in window) full size Chevy crew cab 4X4 pickup truck with tricked out paint, wheels, with every bell and whistle on it.
Devil's Son
Well if you can't afford the $150-$170 dollars all you have to do is show the school you are, unemployed etc etc etc and apply for the free lunch program. That way the school district is reimbursed. Most of those people are just gaming the system. They can afford it but choose not to pay
=========
..........Amen, that is the real issue, but a lot of people here refuse to acknowledge that. Yes, there are many people WITH MEANS out there looking to scam their way out of their obligations, or rationalize that laws and rules don't apply to them. e.g., the "VIP" people with expensive vehicles who park in NO PARKING or HANDICAPPED zones, get tickets, and never pay them. Why? Because they are financially privileged, well connected, and more important than you and me.
Jerry.......They hired a collection agency to collect $900,000 from mostly deadbeats. What did the superintendent do wrong??
Its a shame that the schools have to lose so much of what they are owed to deadbeats. If they were truly needy they would qualify for free/ reduced prices. They should make these irresponsible self entitled jerks pay the extra 26% to cover the costs of having to go to a collection agency.
Surprised that the schools accountants let this get so out of hand.
Only in America is hiring a private corporation to shake kids down for their lunch money considered preferable to raising income taxes on the very wealthy.
School lunches should be free. Poor students should not have to eat nutritionally deficient lunches because their parents don't make as much money as other kids'. This problem is due to governments trying to cook-up convoluted fees to pay for services because the word "tax" has become too politically charged and polarizing. But these fees essentially amount to a flat tax, which means many poor can't afford to pay it, whicn in turn means that the government (in this case, the schools) doesn't have enough money to pay the bills so they have to spend even more money on a private collection agency (which, in turn, will start harrassing you while you're sitting down to dinner because you couldn't afford to pay for a school lunch).
The solution is much simpler and painless than all that: Bring back at least some semblence of progressive taxation. Fund school levies. Give schools the revenue they need to provide basic necessities (like food) for our children without having to harrass underprivileged parents.
Yep, if you are poor, you are somehow exempted from taking responsibility for yourself. Agreed, there are many poor families out there and many of them are there because of some bad stuff happening in their lives. Unfortunately, the fix most asked for from those like Kris is to take money from somebody elses pocket to fix the problem. Kris calls for fixing this country's problems as long as that fix does not affect him or her. I suspect Kris would be against those on government welfare and food stamp assistance being required to take drug tests. I mean poor folks have rights too. I bet many of the parents of these kids would not give up there liquor or illegal drugs to give their children money to buy school lunch. But Kris thinks nothing of taking the personal possessions of others just because they most likely worked their butts off to get what they have for the good of the less well off. Time to open your wallet Kris as opposed to calling for others to pick up your slack. Most rich people have already donated more money to charity than Kris will ever do in his or her lifetime.
Thank you Lanikai Ron for your rebuttal post to Kris. I couldn't have said it better myself !
Exactly the kids shouldn't be denied lunch or breakfast because their parents don't send lunch money! My 7 kids all go to a small school district 225 kids in K-12th grade, the lunch program is government supplemented, and there are free and reduced lunches for kids who's families can't afford the full price of meals. Every day the kids were coming home hungry because they had shared their lunch with kids who were denied lunch or given a cheese sandwich, I think it's terrible that the kids are punished because the parents go to the bar every evening or the casino every weekend rather then send lunch money for their kids. I finally gave the school $500 to cover meals for kids that couldn't pay and have twice replenished that fund. I know it won't go far in a big school but many of these kids go home to an empty house everynight and the only meal or decent meal they get is at school. The thought of kids going hungry bothers me.
How about passing levies or taxes everyone has to pay for and not home & business owners. They could raise the gas taxes again. Everyone talk so easily & calmly about levies & taxes they don't have to pay for.
As for free lunches, well if gov can do it for one set of children & automatically covered for illegal I say lets do it for all. And make it a basic healthly meal not junk or fast foods.
However Lanikai, I hope you can be the one to say to those kids hey your parents are complete schmucks, no food for you. Maybe if we stop outspending every country on the military we could spend a little on our kids. I believe in paying for my own kids, but having gone to schools were some were poor and some kids' parents were schmucks, I have a little more compassion for kids. Because a kid can't get out of the situation he or she finds himself in. Just because they were born into the family no way do I want to rob them of a chance of upward mobility.
Now those schmuck parents I really don't have so much compassion for. Chances are if they are screwing up with their kids life they are already screwing up their own.
I cant wait to see when these kids apply for a job in the future and get rejected because of a bad credit report due to not paying for lunch.
It would be the PARENTS who get the bad credit report, not the kids.
I would NOT be surprised if these A-holes didnt put it on the kids too.
Really?? They're going to use a collection agency for this? That's just crazy! Some of those parents really cannot afford to always give them money for lunch. Also, some of those kids may have had a handmade lunch and thought themselves too cool to carry it so they tossed it and have wracked up a tab.
One school I went to, we barely qualified for reduced lunches . . . and we could barely afford to pay our bills. They need to change their numbers or something, and also there should be more funding pumped into schools.
I would like to know how many of those parents' who supposedly cannot afford to make lunch for their kids have cable TV? Give that up and you can make a LOT of lunches.
I was given $3 a day for lunch when I was in school. Thats $15 a week, about $60 a month. I think that is affordable.
Also, isn't there a government program to provide free meals for kids for breakfast, lunch, and maybe dinner. Wasn't that a big push to provide these kids all these meals because they wouldn't get them at home.
Remember you apply for the lunch program at the beginning of the school year I don't ever remember being able to trot in anytime of the year to apply. We support our schools on property taxes and the state caps the rate. Our school board crunched the numbers the paperwork was costing them more than the lunches. So they put every kid on free lunch. You still filled out the application they took the money allowed and carried the few kids not on the program to reduce paperwork costs. And we have a republican governnor.
Um... read your own words... You could barely afford to pay your bills and you did qualify for the reduced lunch program. Sounds like it was working to me!
As for pumping more funding into the schools for this, find donate all you want but if you have been under a rock the last few years THE NATION AND MOST STATES ARE F-ING BROKE as in there is no money! e.g. the F-ing well is dry.
we could probably feed every kid in this country if we just had one less weapons system.
It is is also the fault of schools why are they letting private companies run their lunch programs? its not right at this time to let these companies in because they charge more than they do with regular lunches. Schools just need to adjust weak spots in their system. Its all about using their brains to cut cost.
Going after the poor hammer and tongs? Wow, what a very x-tian thing to do. RepublicanJeebus must be proud!
So we can afford as a Nation to foot the bill for transgender's hormone therapy in ICE custody but we can not feed our kids? How's that hope & change working out for everyone now?
I take it that these people were screened and found able to pay or else they would have been on the free lunch program therefore they are deadbeats just trying to get something they don't deserve for free.
When I was a kid mum made supper the night before, we always had left overs and never went hungry.
Hmmmm.......
?Que
No habla!
No deeeeeescrimination.
people don t know how to pack a lunch to school anymore?
my nombre is woodlawn1
In Louisiana, at least three years ago, the Lafayette Parish School Board got faced with a similar situation. They started sending out letters about accounts that were in the negative before they let parents know that their children would not be fed if they didn't have money for lunch either on them or in their accounts. Teachers were told they were not allowed to feed the children who came without money under any circumstances. A lot of press coverage on this situation said it wasn't fair to the children if the parents weren't taking care of the child's lunch money, so they started giving milk and crackers to kids who couldn't pay for their lunches. Now, after at least three years of this, the schools have a nutritionist on duty who checks the lunch boxes of the children whose parents pack lunches for them. If the child's lunch doesn't meet the guidelines for a balanced, nutritious lunch, the lunch is confiscated and the child is being given a lunch from the cafeteria (that the child didn't have lunch money for). A note is then sent home explaining what was done and then goes on to tell the parent they owe lunch money for that day.
While I certainly agree that parents need to pay for their children's lunch if they don't qualify for the free lunch program, I do think refusing to feed children is taking things a bit far... and throwing away the lunch the parent bought and packed and then having the nerve to charge for a meal the child probably didn't eat (and is the reason they bring their lunch) is definitely over the line. From the looks of it, Ohio may be heading in the same direction as Louisiana... your state may be next.
Our school is, unfortunately, headed that way. My son told me that a lunch worker checks the cold lunch brought from home and issues stickers for "good food" and demerits for "bad food." However, what counts as "bad food" shocked me. My son had his locally produced whole milk noted as "bad." Why I asked is milk now bad. I was told that it is high in fat. When I pointed out that my son--because of a very active lifestyle and high metabolism--is considered athletic but a bit on the thin side, they replied that it was still an inappropriate food choice. We try to eat all natural and my son skis every weekend and plays hockey four 2-3 hours almost every day, yet somehow the school was worried about a little whole milk. Perhaps the government should stop wasting money monitoring stupid stuff like this and spend the money on food for kids who need it. While money is not an issue for our home, I feel badly for those who it is an issue.
Demerits for "bad" food, like milk?! You know, it's going to get to the point where a large percentage of people homeschool their kids, just to get away from the health nuts and all the various other self-righteous, holier-than-thou douchebags who think they have the right to use the government to push their agendas on everyone else.
Might as well homeschool anyway, seeing as how such a large percentage of people can't find work anyhow. :/
And you want them to have more control of your life? Are you people insane?
If the school takes away a lunch provided by the parents and insists that the child eat the school lunch then they have no right to charge for that lunch. I've seen pictures of the approved lunches served by some schools and I would not feed that slop to my dog much less a child.
Think about it...it said new regulation was increasing the costs of the lunches and who's doing that? The goverment (democrats) democrats are the only ones that impose these nanny regulations...thats a fact..10-1 Now you neandrathralls....your the idiots that keep voting these numskulls in....you get brainwashed thinking there helping "you" and all they do is impose more taxes and regulation.
Who are the bigger numbskulls, wolf, the Republicans who think that ketchup is a vegetable, or the Democrats who want the schools to offer healthier lunches? Think about it, as you say.
Well yank this southern state with it's republican governor and 2 republican senators and a mostly republican legislature figured out in school districts wit 90% of the students on free or reduced price lunch it is cheaper to run all the kids through the lunch line free than to pay for the paperwork. Our state lets us do those things because they believe schools should be run by the people of the school district.
A lot of misinformation on here! The school lunch program is federally controlled (with some state guidelines) and is run through the USDA. Parents fill out an application and are screened. So, there is either a problem with the district's systems, and they aren't getting free and reduced price lunch kids screened soon enough so charges (that will likely not get paid) are accumulating. Or people whose children don't qualify have not met their obligations. It's time to just serve a cheese sandwich and milk to children with outstanding charges and go after people who haven't paid. Outstanding accounts should never have gone past about $15 without some type of policy in place to deal with it.
Just saying, because I am a school principal and have dealt with this before.
As for the the ignorant views that families with no money should be packing lunches or figuring it out on their own, let's just keep in mind that education is the one hope these children have of climbing out of poverty. If they don't eat, they don't attend well to school work. That's Maslow's hierarchy, folks. It's shameful that a world power such as ours has hungry children. Shameful! And, yes, I'm a Republican, so save your nasty comments about liberals. Children should not be the victim of politics.
"Or people whose children don't qualify have not met their obligations."
I think that is the main problem.
UIf the problem is that parents who can afford lunches for their kids aren't paying, why isn't the school cutting them off after the first week of arrears? Or the first month? Just sayin'
Ecactly denver bill 2. The schools should never have let it get to this point. As I mentioned above, our school district put down their foot and after 3 days worth of "charges" you don't get anymore "free lunch". (And yes, they do encourage families that qualify for the USDA free lunch program to apply.)
Denver bill 2, Because they're kids. Just like poor children they should not be held responsible for their parents inability or decision not to pay a bill. Children should not be shamed.
jljohn51,
You're absolutely right when you say children should not be shamed. You're not doing it. I'm not doing it. The school isn't doing it. The PARENTS are. They should stop it and pay up.
How about paddling kids who don't bring lunch money? The kid will demand it from the parents every morning. :) Or just contract with say Purina for a cheap food, call it "Bum Chow". Make it highly nutritious but very bad taste so no one wants it and it has no street value. The kids who don't have lunch money can have a bowl of that with a glass of water.
My district gives a peanut butter sandwich (and that is all) if a kid has not paid for lunch. The kids get sick of it pretty soon and they tell the parents.
One district we used to live in FL put a sticker on the kids' shirt to remind parents. The moms get sick of taking the sticker off (or getting it gummed up in the laundry!) and they pay off the bill.
Personally, I think they shouldn't give the kids ANY lunch if they parents don't pay. It costs very little to make a lunch (pb&j, or throw together a small salad). I am sure that in at least 90% of the cases, it is not money that is keeping these accounts from being paid, it is laziness and greed on the part of the parents.
Feed your own brats. You made them I didn't. Liberal a//holes.
how pathetic that you would think that all the parents who are not paying their bills are liberal. how very, very ignorant!
i wonder how many deadbeats are republicons who want their kids to have a free ride like their wall street banker mommies and daddies.
Why does nobody here comment that it is the parents responsbility to feed their own children. Maybe somebody did and I just missed it.
The problem here is that parents (some, not all) are selfish without realizing it. With gas creeping up to $5.00/gallon why would you buy cigarettes, alcohol, or lottery tickets?
Maybe we should educate parents on how to properly balance a budget. Maybe then these people would understand why we are in such a shambles as a nation.
1. DON'T SPEND WHAT YOU DON'T HAVE - EVER! - If you are charging anything you are doing it wrong.
2. LEARN TO BUDGET WITH WHAT YOU HAVE - Cut out all the extras. Sure the latest iTunes songs are fun to have and we all enjoy a good movie or a drink (or beer). Those are luxuries not necessities. Open your cupboards - if you find them lacking don't spend on wastless things.
3. IF YOU DON'T HAVE A JOB - I have no problem with my tax dollars helping you out if you are actively looking, budgeting, and trying. I hate to hear that my hard earned money is going to lazy folks who just don't try.
I've been there. When I first got out of the Army my wife and I were on food stamps. 2 Kids later I was working at a plant repairing train axles for next to nothing. I went back to college, got a degree, and have been in the IT & consulting industry for over 20 years. I spent my first years as a married husband working ANYWHERE I COULD. I took day labor work and built fences, houses, worked at Rally's, etc. What I didn't do was say "Hey! I get these food stamps and this money so lets sit on my butt and soak it up."
20 years later I have a house, sending 2 kids to college, and we are doing ok. HARD WORK FOLKS - Take some responsibility for what you do in this life. Don't expect the school systems, goverment, or the state to help you. If they do, don't complain EVER about how they do it.
Right on, Steve! I feel like a good-girl sucker after putting myself through college, teachers' college and grad school just so I could scrape and scrimp to provide my only two children with what they needed - no frills folks, and now I'm paying for THEIR college (I would have LOVED to have had more children but I guess only welfare mothers and the uber-rich get to).
I know, firsthand, that a parent does NOT have to provide proof of need for a free-lunch OR bus ride, and I've seen those non-working parents drive brand-new cars.
You got to be kidding me...In all my 61 years, this tops the cake...school officials and board members ought to pay it out of thier own pockets, for letting this go on...swipe the slate clean and move on. And we think education pays...but not for lunches.
Maybe we could take some of the money we're giving to Oil Companies and Corporate Jet passengers and use some of it to feed children?
Or... maybe, we can try and discourage lousy, self-interested, failed in the private sector school admins:
while (in current US legislative tradition) adding in something completely different to the bill that makes it illegal to throw pancakes at Grey Squirrels.
lets just use a portion of what they stole from us for the wall street bailout or the CEOS big bonuses you republicans have no problem the rich eating caviar on corporate welfare while children go hungry
I'll bet everyone of the deadbeats has cellphone or maybe two, cable tv or three, internet, two or three cars and can't pay their lunch bill. BS. We are paying to send your brats to school. Why do we have to feed them too. I know it is the demo way.
Sure, some parents play the system but to target kids who can't help who they were spawn from is just more right wing garbage that makes me want to puke.
Don't put it all on the republicans. We handle it here because our state allows more local option on rules. Yes our families apply for school lunch program. But when the school district realized that almost all the kids were eligible for free or reduced price lunch except some of the kids from the Island, They crunched the numbers and the cost of the everyday paperwork was more than the few lunches being charged for. So they just quit charging.