Help please, need advice, what would you do if this happened to your child??

[Goes4ever]

ok first off my wife was called into work a couple hours early, and in her mad rush to get ready she forgot to send my son's lunch money with him, we normally pay 2-3 weeks worth at a time. Well today she forgot to check his account online and did not realize he was out of funds.

well fast forward to his lunchtime.......he gets in line, gets his lunch and makes his way to the cashier, hands her his card, they swipe it and say there is no balance left, and take his lunch away from him and inform him there are NO charges allowed in the last month of school. SO HE WAS NOT ALLOWED TO EAT ANYTHING. So not only was he embarrassed to have his lunch taken away from him in front of the other kids, but he went with no food all day!
No one bothered to call my wife nor me to let us know he needed money. One of us would have ran him out money or something to eat if lunch was over.

Now to make things worse he is first on the bus and last off at the end of the day, so he eats breakfast at 6:30am, and does not return home until 3:50pm
how would you like it if your child had to go all that time without any nutrition??

my wife was so upset she was in tears, I am going to call the principal in the morning when I get up. How do I handle this? My wife thinks our son was neglected and is just extremely upset. I am really upset myself that the school neglects children this way, pretty pathetic behaviour coming from a school system.

 

[treasurefiend]

Thats messed up!!!! They should of gave him lunch and called home to inform about the funds!!!!!! I would call. Kids need to eat, grownups can skip meals, but not kids. Especially when they are expecting to eat at a certan time, only to get denied food!!!

 

[OzarksMike]

We pay enough taxes that our kids ought to eat for free. Chew the principles butt and threaten legal action. The only thing those bureaucrats understand is money. That might at least get an apology.

 

[Paul (AR)]

n/t

 

[Magyar]

Report this to the principal IMMEDIATELY. This is unconcscionable-totally unacceptable to deny a child nourishment- while I am sure the cashier stuffed her /his face with food at lunch ...as did all the staff.

I suggest "immediately" because if there is too much time elapse from the time of the incident, the facts will somehow fade and this incident will become less of an issue.

A significant question I have is this: the school cafeterias are staffed with teacher/parent monitors ( oh, how I hated "lunch duty" when I was teaching Elem school; the noise...the food waste...etc,) but my point is that the monitors must have been aware of this if they were properly monitoring and should have either lent your son the money for a meal, or reported this to his teacher so thathe/she could have either lent your son the money or notified you /your wife.

This incident must be reported immediately ...and "in person " if possible..also should be brought up at the monthly PTA meeting. I am certain that the other parents would be very interested and aghast at this happening to a child.

Please persue this so that the school can establish a "Plan of Action " for future similar situations .

 

[Pete in MI]

the policies made do not always make for the right things to happen. The lunch lady was following 'policy'. That policy as you know left your son with (1) no food, (2) embarrassment and feel of shame, (3) and because of hunger he lost education...one can't think well when the stomach demands attention.

There should have been a 'clause made in the policy' one that would address a situation such as this to provide for a child's need in such an event. The policy needs a change.

In our day they didn't have cards to swipe. If you didn't have money you may not have gotten a tray of food but other students would have pitched in money (or food from their trays) to let you get food, or the lunch lady would let him have food and he could pay her tomorrow, or even feed him and let the principal know so he could contact the parents and let them know there is a problem...whioh was taken care of but needs to be paid for at the next earliest convenience.

But we don't live in those times any more (sad). I wonder how many other students have had to go through this treatment?

I would definitely be talking to the Principal. If no results, go to the Board of Education. Still no satisfaction, maybe a lawyer would get their attention. In the meantime, pray for the kids and for the leadership.

Today is our school's request for a millage...they are getting a NO from us. Teachers use videos so they don't have to have a lesson plan, one woman teaches kids about witchcraft and when parents have complained she laughs in front of her students about how stupid their parents are....they can shut down the schools and homeshcool the kids.

 

[Mike from MI "Iron Brigade"]

You are right! That is sad! I would definitely have a talk with the principal. I would share with him how that $2.99 lunch just may cost them a lot more than they think! Ask him if he thinks your family should continue to support the school fundraisers, and all the other things that you do that gives the schools money, etc..... No reason they could not have gave him a lunch. Maybe you should let him know that it would be a good idea to talk with the local paper or news about this issue!

 

[Hotcz70]

n/t

 

[steve in so la]

the system a long time as a teacher I can tell you that kazillions of kids get FREE breakfasts & lunches. Steve in so az

 

[Goes4ever]

well I spoke quite sternly with him and as I thought, he tried to pass the buck onto the cafeteria people, he claims they are a separate entity and they make their own rules. I was transferred down to talk to the head cafeteria lady and the same thing, run around the bush she blamed the school and the principal.

My wife wrote a letter to the paper, our only hope is that they print it so everyone in town can read how our tax dollars for the school are being spent. I am quite frustrated to say the least!!!

 

[Greg from Mi.]

n/t

 

[Mike from MI "Iron Brigade"]

Don't let them sweep it under the rug!

 

[Joe G]

Just the moron who couldn't make the clear cut decision that a kid has to eat regardless of whether or not he has 3 bucks for lunch. Had you or I been behind the counter, we would have reached in our pockets and paid for it. My wife's a teacher and there's no way ANY kid would do without; she's laid out $$ plenty of times and even gotten reimbursed by grateful parents. Even school trips, when some kids can't afford it, there's always money available from someplace. Heck, I'd lay it out myself. However, you should definitely report it to the principal. Something should be in place in such cases.

 

[Magyar]

n/t

 

[steve in so la]

Frequently, the school conntracts with a catering service to feed the kids. An outside company might not care about kids. steve

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry about the school treating your child this way! Only money talks now.....no room for mercy from the world!

When I was able to eat lunch with my daughter, Tami, on special occassions, I found out they had to eat so fast that I didn't even begin to eat! I just joined Tami and when she was through, she went to the playground and I left! I am a very slow eater and to force food down in a hurry is not for me! Cliff still eats very quickly from being in the army during the Korean War! He said if you didn't eat fast you didn't get any food, they had only 20 mins to get through the line and sit down to eat and then leave, so the next group could have their meal! Too bad because eating fast doesn't help your digestion system! Too much rushing and stress, so that may be why so many of our military men and woman suffer from unhealthiness and other problems! I can see though why this is true because of war time and battles! I will be glad when Jesus returns and brings peace to earth for a 1000 years and then through all eternity!

As I've said before, Save those who will be saved and then come quickly, Lord Jesus, and take your faithful saints home to be with you forever!

When I went to school we didn't have a cafeteria or a place to eat! We either took lunch from home or paid for a pc of balogna and cracker from the store in town! Sometimes we could get a soda to go with it! I think it was 10 or 15 cents for everything, but even then that was too much for poor families to pay!

Most of the time I didn't eat and waited to eat supper when I arrived home! Life was a lot simpler back then and not so hectic! I survived but to keep your child from missing a meal, you need to tell the teachers and principal that if your child doesn't have enough to pay for lunch.....that they should pay for it and you will be glad to reimburse them and also the cafeteria people should notify you when the account is empty! But that would be too much trouble and what do they care..........................whether your child gets food or not!
Like Steve said there are many, many children who get free breakfasts and lunches! I would also inform the parents at the PTA meetings what is happening as they would probably want to know, so it won't happen to their child or children!

Just encouage him that you both are very sorry and that you will try your best to not let it happen again! Such is life.......bad and embarassing times come to us all at one time or another! My prayers are that your child will overcome this quickly and go on and have more pleasant days at school!

God Bless!
Betty

 

[PappyInSC]

my wife started teaching kindergarten when she was 19 years old. Yeah I know she's a smarties pance and graduated college before i BARELY got out of high school. We were still dating at the time. We would go out and I would hear about some kid forgot his lunch money or lost it or whatever..... If that happend my wife would always pay for the kids lunch. Send a note home to the parent saying the kid forgot his lunch money. Well sometimes you get it back, and sometimes not. But my wife wasn't worried about a couple of bucks, she wanted the kids to have lunch.....

Moving on.... My wife eventually became a principal of an elementary school. New day, same stuff..... So she told her staff that EVERY kid will eat lunch regardless of their ability to pay. Had her staff pull together some funds for kids who forgot or just could not afford to each lunch.

SO... my wife moved onward and upwards and went into administration.... I know something about how the pecking order works...I know how some principals are and how they treat their staff and students..... I've seen it first hand....

FORGET GOING TO THE PRINCIPAL unless you know them personally.... I would go straight to admin and talk with either the person who is over the elementary schools. They are generally called elementary directors (which is a name that doesn't sound powerful) but they are the principal's boss. OR I would go directly to the school superintendent. They need to know and WANT TO KNOW!

Later...
Pappy

 

[KyBud(InezKy)]

one of our local elementary schools. She stays in the caferteria during breakfast / lunch and oversees what is going on. (She says its the principals job to know what goes on at their school). She has paid for a kids lunch/breakfast (out of her own pocket) many times in the past because the kid either lost their money or just didn't have the money. She says there will never be a child in her school go hungry. If it sounds like I'm braging on her, Well I am. I'm proud of her for the way she handles her job. She has been known to buy coats, shoes and clothes for the poorer kids if she saw a need. When I go over to the school I have to go through the school looking for her. She never stays in her office.
My thoughts goes4ever is that someone should have made sure that your child had a lunch to eat. If I had been there and knew what was going on I would have. I think you should demand an explanation and try to make sure it don't happen again with any child. Just my thoughts.
God Bless,
HH
Ky Bud

 

[Goes4ever]

thank you all so much for your kind thoughts, we are doing everything in our power to let as many people know about this as possible!

 

[Goes4ever]

I posted this on the other forum I frequent (Tnet) and people are outraged. They asked me to get the address and emails of the school and administration. Now they have been emailing and seding snail mail to the school. Hopefully all this will get their attention that this rule HAS to be changed.

also here is a copy of the letter my wife took to the paper, tell me what you think!

Dear Editor,


Today the Van Wert Middle School sunk to an all new low. I honestly forgot to send lunch money with my son today. Sorry I know we the parents are not allowed to make mistakes. I thought he had enough money in his account for one more day. I didn't have time before work this morning to check his account on-line.


Well when he got his lunch and got to the cashier, she informed him he was out of money. Then she took his meal away from him and told him that if he did not find any money then he couldn't eat. Are you kidding me! I guess it was because they do not accept charges after May 1st (even though school doesn't get out until June), so basically they were saying