Utah School Collects and Trashes Lunches from Deadbeat Kids

[ClydeR]

Up to 40 kids at Uintah Elementary in Salt Lake City picked up their lunches Tuesday, then watched as the meals were taken and thrown away because of outstanding balances on their accounts — a move that shocked and angered parents.

More... (http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/57468293-78/lunches-olsen-lunch-district.html.csp)

Isn't Salt Lake City all Mormons?

[Tgo01]

Kids gotta grow up sometime. You don't pay the bill, you don't get no thrill.

[cwolff]

Isn't Salt Lake City all Mormons?

"Please sir, may I have some lunch?"

Someone's losing a job over this.

[cwolff]

Kids gotta grow up sometime. You don't pay the bill, you don't get no thrill.

Damn straight.

"Spare the child, spoil the lunch"

[Atlanteax]

Kids gotta grow up sometime. You don't pay the bill, you don't get no thrill.

Best to learn this lesson before a teenager with 'free' cellphones and before going to college for 'free' education.

[Tgo01]

Okay I read the article and Jesus H. Christ that one parent just makes me want to fucking slap her.

"I thought we were all paid up!"

"I didn't receive any notices that we were behind!"

My God! How can you not know if you're paying for your child's lunches or not unless you're purposefully not paying for their lunches because you figure the school wouldn't dare not give your kid a meal?

I blame Latrin.

[Suppa Hobbit Mage]

What, no free meal? I mean, besides SNAP.

How un-American.

[Suppa Hobbit Mage]

Pretty retarded way to notify them they aren't up-to-date on their bills though.

I wish I could get milk and fruit for free everyday at lunch!

[Tgo01]

Pretty retarded way to notify them they aren't up-to-date on their bills though.

What, sending out emails, calling the parents and telling the students as they go through the line? :/

[Suppa Hobbit Mage]

What, sending out emails, calling the parents and telling the students as they go through the line? :/

No, just the part of serving the students, then taking it back. Should be a way to prevent it ever getting in front of the kid... only to take it back, and throw it away.

[Tgo01]

No, just the part of serving the students, then taking it back. Should be a way to prevent it ever getting in front of the kid... only to take it back, and throw it away.

Yeah I agree with that, the kids already had the lunch, let them eat it.

But I don't give the parents any slack at all in this case. To somehow act like they are the victim is just mind boggling.

[cwolff]

Yeah I agree with that, the kids already had the lunch, let them eat it.

But I don't give the parents any slack at all in this case. To somehow act like they are the victim is just mind boggling.

Really this is a tempest in a tea cup and might be just the thing a frustrated community needs to get the parents to either pay up or make other arrangements. Of course, it fits perfectly into current zeitgeist so the left is going to blow this story up! That's good for my politics though I'll tell you right now that this probably a non story.

[Eriyan]

you do all understand that the food is ALREADY paid for by the parents taxes? Just like in every other town, city, county, state, whatever, ALL the school food is already paid for by Tax payer money, our money. Even if it's subsidized by federal dollars, ALL tax payer money, ALL money we as people have paid out already in taxes, pays for it.
Does no one see an issue with paying AGAIN for the food we already paid for via all the taxes we pay? Its a public school per the article, so ALL paid for by Tax dollars. Someone want to explain why kids actually pay for lunches that are already paid for??? The worst part is, they threw the food out wasting more food and tax money and humiliated the kids who may or may not have control over their families money, its elementary school, public school, not college.

Simple fact that no one is seeing, all the food in every public school is already paid for by our tax dollars. For anyone who doesn't believe it, please prove me wrong because i'd love to know where else our government gets money, other than taxes paid by us the people.

[Tgo01]

you do all understand that the food is ALREADY paid for by the parents taxes? Just like in every other town, city, county, state, whatever, ALL the school food is already paid for by Tax payer money, our money. Even if it's subsidized by federal dollars, ALL tax payer money, ALL money we as people have paid out already in taxes, pays for it.
Does no one see an issue with paying AGAIN for the food we already paid for via all the taxes we pay? Its a public school per the article, so ALL paid for by Tax dollars. Someone want to explain why kids actually pay for lunches that are already paid for??? The worst part is, they threw the food out wasting more food and tax money and humiliated the kids who may or may not have control over their families money, its elementary school, public school, not college.

Simple fact that no one is seeing, all the food in every public school is already paid for by our tax dollars. For anyone who doesn't believe it, please prove me wrong because i'd love to know where else our government gets money, other than taxes paid by us the people.

It's not at all possible that school lunches aren't paid for with tax payer dollars but instead is paid for by people who pay for the lunches? :/

I'll admit I have no idea if you're right or wrong but that's what I've always assumed.

[Suppa Hobbit Mage]

you do all understand that the food is ALREADY paid for by the parents taxes? Just like in every other town, city, county, state, whatever, ALL the school food is already paid for by Tax payer money, our money. Even if it's subsidized by federal dollars, ALL tax payer money, ALL money we as people have paid out already in taxes, pays for it.
Does no one see an issue with paying AGAIN for the food we already paid for via all the taxes we pay? Its a public school per the article, so ALL paid for by Tax dollars. Someone want to explain why kids actually pay for lunches that are already paid for??? The worst part is, they threw the food out wasting more food and tax money and humiliated the kids who may or may not have control over their families money, its elementary school, public school, not college.

Simple fact that no one is seeing, all the food in every public school is already paid for by our tax dollars. For anyone who doesn't believe it, please prove me wrong because i'd love to know where else our government gets money, other than taxes paid by us the people.

There is a National School Lunch Program, yes, but it doesn't pay for everyone. Schools have to apply, be eligible, and the students themselves have to be eligible. I'm fairly certain that not all schools participate or have eligible students.

Or is there something else you are referring too? If so, please direct me to it, it's been over 20 years since I was in the public education system.

[irfuji]

The ENTIRE cost of the lunch is NOT paid for by taxes. The taxes effectively subsidize the cost of the school lunch with the amount paid for by the students/parents theoretically covering the difference.

Yes, public school = paid for by taxes. But then there's this thing called a deficit/debt. Utah still has a pretty decent debt so the fact is, 100% of taxes does not pay for 100% of what the state incurs in operating costs.

I agree though that they should not have given the food to the children in the first place only to take it away.

[Atlanteax]

The ENTIRE cost of the lunch is NOT paid for by taxes. The taxes effectively subsidize the cost of the school lunch with the amount paid for by the students/parents theoretically covering the difference.

Yes, public school = paid for by taxes. But then there's this thing called a deficit/debt. Utah still has a pretty decent debt so the fact is, 100% of taxes does not pay for 100% of what the state incurs in operating costs.

I agree though that they should not have given the food to the children in the first place only to take it away.

Well they did not know which students had not paid up ... so they erred on providing all students with lunches.

However when they found out which students were in deficit, they should had simply informed them that they can finish their current lunch but will not receive a 'full lunch' going forward until their parents pay up (vs wastefully taking away and disposing of them).

[Dendum]

There is a National School Lunch Program, yes, but it doesn't pay for everyone. Schools have to apply, be eligible, and the students themselves have to be eligible. I'm fairly certain that not all schools participate or have eligible students.

Or is there something else you are referring too? If so, please direct me to it, it's been over 20 years since I was in the public education system.

I think what he is referring to is the fact that schools use their budget, tax payers money, to buy food for the cafeteria. Then they turn around and charge for that food even though tax payer money payed for it once. I believe the schools have to do this to maintain solvency, I am sure the budget they are working off of lists the money taken in from the lunches when considering how much to spend on food for the cafeteria.

But yes the original budget is tax payer money but what Eryian is failing to take into account, I assume, is that it is the same pile of money that pays for everything school related. The federal government mandates free meals for needy children and then releases shit all for money to help cover that mandate, the states have to take up the rest of the slack at if they can not do it on the food programs income it comes from the general budget that also pays for things like science labs and computers.

I am of the opinion that children need to be fed at school to perform at school. Call it a holdover of my military days when you realized food has an aspect to play in attention and moral and in the end performance, but food is important and I would rather our future work force is being made to concentrate on competing with the global market and not starving instead of learning to multiply fractions. At the same time parents who can afford to pay for lunch and don't really should just be quiet and fix the mistakes they made.

edit: To those blaming the cafeteria workers who took the food away, that is how a cafeteria works...you hand out food you get to the end of the line and then you pay for your meal based on what you got in the line. They do not pull up the kids account before they get in the line because they do not know what they are getting or how much it costs. Your asking a lot of 10 dollar an hour workers to maintain the financial situation of every kid in a public school in memory that walks in front of you asking for chicken nuggets.

[Suppa Hobbit Mage]

Good point about the cafeteria. Makes much more sense now and wasn't something I'd considered.

Only somewhat related because it includes a cafeteria; but in college, I purchased the "meal plan" to eat on campus 2 times a day for the semester. That was the best freaking investment ever! All I did in college was intramural sports, drink, study, hike, ski, etc.. etc... I ate like a horse for a very small investment! I remember going for dinner and having 8 or 9 plates of food! Some of it was even good!

I miss my metabolism from college. As well as being able to live on $20 a week...

[RichardCranium]

I think what he is referring to is the fact that schools use their budget, tax payers money, to buy food for the cafeteria. Then they turn around and charge for that food even though tax payer money payed for it once. I believe the schools have to do this to maintain solvency, I am sure the budget they are working off of lists the money taken in from the lunches when considering how much to spend on food for the cafeteria.

But yes the original budget is tax payer money but what Eryian is failing to take into account, I assume, is that it is the same pile of money that pays for everything school related. The federal government mandates free meals for needy children and then releases shit all for money to help cover that mandate, the states have to take up the rest of the slack at if they can not do it on the food programs income it comes from the general budget that also pays for things like science labs and computers.

I am of the opinion that children need to be fed at school to perform at school. Call it a holdover of my military days when you realized food has an aspect to play in attention and moral and in the end performance, but food is important and I would rather our future work force is being made to concentrate on competing with the global market and not starving instead of learning to multiply fractions. At the same time parents who can afford to pay for lunch and don't really should just be quiet and fix the mistakes they made.

edit: To those blaming the cafeteria workers who took the food away, that is how a cafeteria works...you hand out food you get to the end of the line and then you pay for your meal based on what you got in the line. They do not pull up the kids account before they get in the line because they do not know what they are getting or how much it costs. Your asking a lot of 10 dollar an hour workers to maintain the financial situation of every kid in a public school in memory that walks in front of you asking for chicken nuggets.


In Louisiana, at least in our parish, students swipe their ID's before entering in to be served their food. If there is a not enough money in the account to cover the meal they are served that day, the deficit is applied to their account and the parents are notified via note, phone call, and email.

[Dendum]

In Louisiana, at least in our parish, students swipe their ID's before entering in to be served their food. If there is a not enough money in the account to cover the meal they are served that day, the deficit is applied to their account and the parents are notified via note, phone call, and email.

I am sure it differs from district to district and state to state, but from the article I would say the school in question is a pay after type of place.

[Tgo01]

edit: To those blaming the cafeteria workers who took the food away, that is how a cafeteria works...you hand out food you get to the end of the line and then you pay for your meal based on what you got in the line. They do not pull up the kids account before they get in the line because they do not know what they are getting or how much it costs. Your asking a lot of 10 dollar an hour workers to maintain the financial situation of every kid in a public school in memory that walks in front of you asking for chicken nuggets.

So you're saying the kids went through line, picked out what food they wanted, got to the cashier and the cashier said no money on the account and took their food and threw it away?

If that's the case it actually doesn't sound like that big of a deal.

I pictured the kids getting their lunch, sitting down and were about ready to take a bite when the workers took their food and threw it in the trash.

I guess I'm just confused how this all went down because when I went to grade school you paid a flat rate (something like 2 dollars) and then you went into the area where they handed out food and it was a prepared meal and everyone got the same thing.

In middle school it was similar to ordering from a fast food place, you went up to the window, ordered what you wanted, paid for it and then they handed you your meal.

In high school I think it was the same thing as middle school but I went off campus to eat because I was the boss.

[Anebriated]

Uh, no. Sorry, but a toll is a toll, and a roll is a roll, and if we don't get no tolls, then we don't eat no rolls.

[AnticorRifling]

Uh, no. Sorry, but a toll is a toll, and a roll is a roll, and if we don't get no tolls, then we don't eat no rolls.

Did you say Abe Lincoln?

[RichardCranium]

I am sure it differs from district to district and state to state, but from the article I would say the school in question is a pay after type of place.

Oh I'm sure, I'm just amazed that (part of) Louisiana got something right before another state.

[Buckwheet]

I work for student information company so we compete in this space. We have a canned report called "low balance" that any food service admin can run with the click of the mouse and it has all kids below whatever dollar amount you set. Set it to the price of a meal and in less than 10 seconds this administrator would have had a complete list of kids before they entered the line.

[cwolff]

Are you guys LDS owned? If not, I don't think your fancy schmancy software's going to help these people.

[Dendum]

I work for student information company so we compete in this space. We have a canned report called "low balance" that any food service admin can run with the click of the mouse and it has all kids below whatever dollar amount you set. Set it to the price of a meal and in less than 10 seconds this administrator would have had a complete list of kids before they entered the line.

Yea but what are you gonna do with it? Pass it out to all the teachers? It sounds like they already knew who was behind and have attempted to inform the parents.

You could have stopped the kids from getting in the line, but then the headline changes to "Kids in School not even allowed to get in line because they are poor" and the parent quote changes to "My Joey he had three dollars in his pocket and they wouldn't even let him in the line! They should be ashamed of point him out like that!"

[ClydeR]

Well they did not know which students had not paid up ... so they erred on providing all students with lunches.

However when they found out which students were in deficit, they should had simply informed them that they can finish their current lunch but will not receive a 'full lunch' going forward until their parents pay up (vs wastefully taking away and disposing of them).

Who owned the lunches at the time the school took them from the kids? Clyde says the kids owned the lunches. That's the only conclusion a rational person could reach. Since we've established that the kids owned the lunches, we have to ask does the government, which this school is a part of, have the right to take the kids' property without compensating them?

[Gelston]

Oh I'm sure, I'm just amazed that (part of) Louisiana got something right before another state.

We had that shit when I was in Elementary here in Louisiana. It has existed for a very long time... At least 23 years ago I remember it.

[RichardCranium]

We had that shit when I was in Elementary here in Louisiana. It has existed for a very long time... At least 23 years ago I remember it.

You live in north Louisiana, right? I live in shithole Livingston Parish.

[Methais]

This thread reminded me that I have some oranges I've been meaning to eat.

[Methais]

You live in north Louisiana, right? I live in shithole Livingston Parish.

I can attest that Livingston Parish is indeed a shithole. A massive one. A goatsehole even.

[Ardwen]

I dont know about anywhere else, but my town has a budget book you can get, it will tell you how much is spent per student of your local tax dollar, in my towns case its just over eleven thousand dollars a year, if that does not include money for lunch something is seriously wrong with things. That comes out to a total for the town somewhere in excess of ten million dollars for the town, based on what staff is paid and cost of running the 2 schools there is no way that cant possibly have enough excess to buy food.

[Tgo01]

I dont know about anywhere else, but my town has a budget book you can get, it will tell you how much is spent per student of your local tax dollar, in my towns case its just over eleven thousand dollars a year, if that does not include money for lunch something is seriously wrong with things. That comes out to a total for the town somewhere in excess of ten million dollars for the town, based on what staff is paid and cost of running the 2 schools there is no way that cant possibly have enough excess to buy food.

I'm not sure which state you live in but lets assume 50k per year per teacher. Based on the 11,000 dollar per student figure and the 10 million dollar budget per year figure that's about 900 students.

Let's assume average class size is 25 students and that's 36 teachers...that sounds like a pretty small figure if you have a high school, even for a small town. Regardless that's almost 2 million dollars per year just in teacher salary, not including any other benefits they might have.

Let's assume there's an equal number of other staff to run the schools; principals, janitors, etc etc, let's round that off to 1.5 million because I hope teachers make more than janitors.

We're figuring around 3.5 million dollars in just wages and I think I've underestimated a lot of those wages.

Does your school system bus kids around town? If so we have to factor in bus driver salaries, bus maintenance, gas, oil changes, etc etc.

Assuming each lunch costs 5 dollars and there are 900 kids and kids have what, 180 school days a year? That's almost 1 million dollars just in lunch costs.

[Gelston]

You live in north Louisiana, right? I live in shithole Livingston Parish.

This was in Bossier and Caddo parishes. So yeah, North Louisiana.

[Gelston]

I don't think an elementary school kid should EVER be denied school lunch. If the parents are in debt for the lunches, roll it into their state income taxes.

[Jarvan]

you do all understand that the food is ALREADY paid for by the parents taxes? Just like in every other town, city, county, state, whatever, ALL the school food is already paid for by Tax payer money, our money. Even if it's subsidized by federal dollars, ALL tax payer money, ALL money we as people have paid out already in taxes, pays for it.
Does no one see an issue with paying AGAIN for the food we already paid for via all the taxes we pay? Its a public school per the article, so ALL paid for by Tax dollars. Someone want to explain why kids actually pay for lunches that are already paid for??? The worst part is, they threw the food out wasting more food and tax money and humiliated the kids who may or may not have control over their families money, its elementary school, public school, not college.

Simple fact that no one is seeing, all the food in every public school is already paid for by our tax dollars. For anyone who doesn't believe it, please prove me wrong because i'd love to know where else our government gets money, other than taxes paid by us the people.

Wrong.

[Jarvan]

I think what he is referring to is the fact that schools use their budget, tax payers money, to buy food for the cafeteria. Then they turn around and charge for that food even though tax payer money payed for it once. I believe the schools have to do this to maintain solvency, I am sure the budget they are working off of lists the money taken in from the lunches when considering how much to spend on food for the cafeteria.

But yes the original budget is tax payer money but what Eryian is failing to take into account, I assume, is that it is the same pile of money that pays for everything school related. The federal government mandates free meals for needy children and then releases shit all for money to help cover that mandate, the states have to take up the rest of the slack at if they can not do it on the food programs income it comes from the general budget that also pays for things like science labs and computers.

I am of the opinion that children need to be fed at school to perform at school. Call it a holdover of my military days when you realized food has an aspect to play in attention and moral and in the end performance, but food is important and I would rather our future work force is being made to concentrate on competing with the global market and not starving instead of learning to multiply fractions. At the same time parents who can afford to pay for lunch and don't really should just be quiet and fix the mistakes they made.

edit: To those blaming the cafeteria workers who took the food away, that is how a cafeteria works...you hand out food you get to the end of the line and then you pay for your meal based on what you got in the line. They do not pull up the kids account before they get in the line because they do not know what they are getting or how much it costs. Your asking a lot of 10 dollar an hour workers to maintain the financial situation of every kid in a public school in memory that walks in front of you asking for chicken nuggets.

Somewhat right. They are budgeted some money to pay for lunches. Sorta.

Lets say a lunch costs 5 dollars to make. They are budgeted say 3 dollar to make that lunch. The kid is then required to pay 2 dollars. If the kid doesn't, they don't get the lunch. If the kid chooses not to eat, then the school losses 3 dollars on that lunch as well, since they are required to make the food. This money comes from the Fed, not local taxes. That being said.. it's like highways. Taxpayer money paid for the roads and bridges. But if you want to use them, you got to pay the toll. Don't have mney for the toll, then you are shit out of luck.

[Ardwen]

School lunches cost about 2 bucks at elementary level and 3.50 to 4 at high school, theres 30-35 kids per class, the high school is actually used by multiple towns so is a shared expense, there are 18 teachers and 11 other staff at the elementary school, there is no libraian, they decided that was an unnecessary expense and now use the town volunteer library, which is across the road from the elementary school. Classes over I believe 32 get an aide which is about half of the 11 other staff, Bus drivers are also a multi-town operation, all 7 of them.

[Warriorbird]

Having taught hungry kids versus not hungry kids I honestly wish I could force some of them to eat lunch.

[Jarvan]

School lunches cost about 2 bucks at elementary level and 3.50 to 4 at high school, theres 30-35 kids per class, the high school is actually used by multiple towns so is a shared expense, there are 18 teachers and 11 other staff at the elementary school, there is no libraian, they decided that was an unnecessary expense and now use the town volunteer library, which is across the road from the elementary school. Classes over I believe 32 get an aide which is about half of the 11 other staff, Bus drivers are also a multi-town operation, all 7 of them.

is the 3.5 bucks the kid cost, or the school cost?

[Gelston]

This shouldn't even be a discussion. An elementary school kid is not in any way at fault for their parents. They should be fed.

[diethx]

Ok have school lunches become that much better since I was in school? $5? Even $4?! lol. A frozen Ellios-type pizza square and some tater tots, chocolate milk, whatever. Similar stuff. If that costs $3-5 to make, a smarter buyer needs to be hired.

[Jarvan]

This shouldn't even be a discussion. An elementary school kid is not in any way at fault for their parents. They should be fed.

I agree.. and I don't.

If you are going to give the kid food no matter what, there really is no incentive for the parent to pay. I mean, you could maybe fine them, but what will you do if they don't pay that? Jail time? Like that will solve the problem. Sure, lock the parents up.. then put the kid in foster care. Yep, kid goes into foster care because a parent wouldn't pay for a lunch.

[Gelston]

I agree.. and I don't.

If you are going to give the kid food no matter what, there really is no incentive for the parent to pay. I mean, you could maybe fine them, but what will you do if they don't pay that? Jail time? Like that will solve the problem. Sure, lock the parents up.. then put the kid in foster care. Yep, kid goes into foster care because a parent wouldn't pay for a lunch.

Sure there is. It is a debt to the state. Tack it on to their State Income taxes. An elementary school child shouldn't be hungry because their parents suck.

[Ardwen]

thats what they charge per meal at the school, no idea the cost the school fronts, and its not like the days I was in school where they prepared food its all either pre-made ready to serve or packaged food

[Jarvan]

thats what they charge per meal at the school, no idea the cost the school fronts, and its not like the days I was in school where they prepared food its all either pre-made ready to serve or packaged food

The school charges kids 3.50 for the meal, the fed apparently pays 28 cents (plus 23.25 cents in free food) per paid lunch. So lets just say 50 cents. Means that the cost of the food and prep and everything is considered 4$ for break even. (we wouldn't want the school making a profit off lunches anyway)

I don't know, but I would wager a guess that most of those lunches cost a lot more then that. Depending on the private company that the schools contract with. And this is why Government doesn't work really for things like this.



Sure there is. It is a debt to the state. Tack it on to their State Income taxes. An elementary school child shouldn't be hungry because their parents suck.

Do you have any idea how many people don't file state taxes? Besides, if a parent doesn't care about their kid to the point of not paying for their lunch when they can afford to, do you honestly think they will pay the taxes either?

On a side note.. anyone find it ironic, all these commercials of kids taking a lunch to school. Hell, it was barely done when I was a kid, almost not heard of where I live now.

[ClydeR]

If you are going to give the kid food no matter what, there really is no incentive for the parent to pay.

You're trying to turn this into a discussion of Obamacare. Let's stay on point.

[Savrin]

Sounds like the school provided a good life lesson.

I don't thinking missing one lunch is going to ruin the future of any of those children.

[Wrathbringer]

I blame Latrin.

ME TOO. And Obama. But mostly Latrinsorm.

[AnticorRifling]

Sounds like the school provided a good life lesson.

I don't thinking missing one lunch is going to ruin the future of any of those children.

Punish the parent, not the child. The child is not at fault here.

Obviously we weren't there and we have far from all of the facts but I can't help but think there was a better way to handle this situation (hindsight being 20/20).

[Latrinsorm]

Ok have school lunches become that much better since I was in school? $5? Even $4?! lol. A frozen Ellios-type pizza square and some tater tots, chocolate milk, whatever. Similar stuff. If that costs $3-5 to make, a smarter buyer needs to be hired.Don't forget inflation. $4 today is only $2.20 in 1990 dollars. And remember those chicken nuggets? I'd pay top dollar for those.
On a side note.. anyone find it ironic, all these commercials of kids taking a lunch to school. Hell, it was barely done when I was a kid, almost not heard of where I live now.Well excuse me Mr. 1%er, but some of us were on a budget and couldn't afford your big city school lunches.
Punish the parent, not the child. The child is not at fault here.It's the eternal problem with the welfare state that you liberals never want to grasp. If you just give a child money every day, they're going to grow dependent on it. Surprise surprise, they start spending that money on rims and heroin instead of the cafeteria. Don't even try to deny it, I heard that a guy saw a kid doing that once.

[Gelston]

Punish the parent, not the child. The child is not at fault here.

Obviously we weren't there and we have far from all of the facts but I can't help but think there was a better way to handle this situation (hindsight being 20/20).

I think throwing the meals away wasn't the way to do it. You lose the food either way, may as well let the kids eat it.

When I was in school, they often had so much extra that we got seconds for free.

[Jarvan]

I think throwing the meals away wasn't the way to do it. You lose the food either way, may as well let the kids eat it.

When I was in school, they often had so much extra that we got seconds for free.

What they should have done is announced over the PA all the kids names, then told them to report to X place while saying that since your parents refused to pay their lunch bill, you will be sitting in a special room while everyone else eats. (notice my sarcastic font)

Frankly, if that would have happened I bet it would have been worse then throwing the food away. Sadly tho.. shame usually seems the best way to motivate some people.

[diethx]

Don't forget inflation. $4 today is only $2.20 in 1990 dollars. And remember those chicken nuggets? I'd pay top dollar for those.

Yeah I misread anyway, I thought they were saying it cost that much to produce each meal.

[Gelston]

What they should have done is announced over the PA all the kids names, then told them to report to X place while saying that since your parents refused to pay their lunch bill, you will be sitting in a special room while everyone else eats. (notice my sarcastic font)

Frankly, if that would have happened I bet it would have been worse then throwing the food away. Sadly tho.. shame usually seems the best way to motivate some people.

Or they could have just fed the kids.

[JackWhisper]

They did feed the kids. Milk and fruit.

[Warriorbird]

It's the eternal problem with the welfare state that you liberals never want to grasp. If you just give a child money every day, they're going to grow dependent on it. Surprise surprise, they start spending that money on rims and heroin instead of the cafeteria. Don't even try to deny it, I heard that a guy saw a kid doing that once.

Pure gold.

[Candor]

This is one of the first issues that caused me to move away from extreme right conservatism a number of years ago. A bunch of Republican Congressmen didn't want to fund school lunches (and breakfasts, for that matter) for kids whose parents couldn't afford the cost. I saw this as providing equal opportunity as a hungry kid doesn't tend to learn much. The considerable backlash from some of my conservative friends who were amazed at my position on this issue surprised me.

I still believe I am in the right on this issue. We can argue about irresponsible parents (and no doubt I would agree with some, if not most, of those arguments), but the child still needs to learn.

I will agree that the child should not receive money - just the food at school.