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Stupid parents.
Public schools in Albuquerque, N.M., last month ins uted a new way to get parents to pay for their kids' hot lunches -- call it the "cheese sandwich policy."
The policy takes aim at parents who have not paid for their children's regular lunches by serving those children an alternative meal that consists of a cheese sandwich, fruit and milk.
The school board said the policy has been effective in getting delinquent parents to pay, but many parents are outraged, saying it stigmatizes their kids.
One Albuquerque mom, who asked that her name not be used, said her daughter was upset after she was pulled aside and given the brown bag lunch.
"The lunch lady pulled her aside. And she told my little girl that 'You know, since you owe money, you have to have a cheese sandwich.' She sat there through the whole lunch period and cried," the mother said.
Program Effective
Brad Winter, CEO of the Albuquerque Public School System, said too many families who could afford it were not paying the schools for the hot meals.
"We had $140,000 in charges, and we were worried it was going to go up to $300,000," Winter told "Good Morning America."
So the school system decided on a program guaranteed to get parents' attention. After a parent ac ulates a certain amount of unpaid lunches, the kids are no longer served a hot meal.
Instead, the children are given a cheese sandwich on white bread, a fruit or vegetable and a beverage, either milk or juice, Winter said.
Winter said the school is not trying to punish or separate one group of kids from another.
"I think that we do a very good job of not creating a stigma because of the sensitivity that everyone is trained for," he said. "And what we were trying to do is find how do we pay this debt out. Because we cannot carry this debt."
Albuquerque is not the only school system taking action. Similar policies are in place in Chula Vista, Calif.; Hillsborough County, Fla.; and Lynnwood, Wash.
What About Low-Income Kids?
Albuquerque community activist Nancy Pope said many kids targeted by the program are from low-income families and risk not getting enough to eat.
"They don't have the option of going home and having dinner or breakfast because there is no food at home," Pope said.
And while the hot school lunch has to meet U.S. Department of Agriculture nutritional standards, the alternative lunch does not.
"No, this alternative lunch does not," Winter conceded. "It is very close though."
Winter said the program has been remarkably effective at getting parents who can pay for the meals to clear their tabs. But some parents worry school officials may be ignoring the price the kids could be paying.
"The last thing I want is my [daughter] getting hurt," said the mother whose daughter was upset by being pulled out of the lunch line. " Especially at school, where I think they're safe."
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Stupid parents.
Like always I'm not surprised that a large group of irresponsible adults expects someone else to foot the bill to avoid the stigmas of not taking responsibility for your own actions. Truly ing pathetic....be grateful your kids even get a meal let alone a free one.
stupid parents.
So how much is a school lunch these days?
uh.....
I cut a $40 check every few weeks.....I think $3?
I guess if I was up for it I could look it up at the neisd website.....
naw.....I got better things to do.......utsa fans are trying to compare larry coker to mack brown so I need to go take care of that
I think it's like .95 for breakfast and 1.75 for lunch. Not even close to expensive. I pay online for my kids and put in about $60 a month total. I even get e-mails that notify me when the account is less than $5.
It's real easy and affordable to manage and it takes a lazy ass to get to the "cheese sandwich" stage.
, these s get free meals? wtf
at my school, kids were allowed to run home and have lunch then run back to school lmao....or you can order lunch for 2 bucks......and if you have no parents at home or no money, then ur on ur own....
If you dont want your daughter being hurt then pay your ing bill.
Sometimes I wonder if ignorance really is bliss ...
The school district my kids went to in Maryland had the same policy, didn't make any difference. People still didn't pay.
And there's nothing wrong with a cheese sandwich, just make sure it's a grilled cheese sandwich.
Why pay when you get a free meal you can about.
+1 I pay online as well. My child has had that happen when I forgot to pay.
NEISD & JISD have done PB&J, fruit & milk here for as long as my kids have been in school.
I'm supposed to get an email when their accounts get below $5, but I don't always, and they don't always tell the kids that they are low when they go through the line, either. So, unless they want PB&J .. they have to have some degree of responsiblity to tell me, too. I don't go and check their balance everyday online ... I guess that makes me a deadbeat, too.
Especially when they spend too much money at the snack bar line or get other extras every day even though they know that's a no-no.
Last edited by SpursWoman; 03-05-2009 at 10:35 AM.
Well I don't check often and I stopped those email alerts because they annoyed the out of me! So it's up to the kids to know whether or not they have money in their acct. I think we've had as much as a -$7 balance and they've never been denied a regular lunch.
Now that you mentioned it, they do PB&J at our school too, but only after you've gone NEGATIVE by $10.NEISD & JISD have done PB&J, fruit & milk here for as long as my kids have been in school.
I'm supposed to get an email when their accounts get below $5, but I don't always, and they don't always tell the kids that they are low when they go through the line, either. So, unless they want PB&J .. they have to have some degree of responsiblity to tell me, too. I don't go and check their balance everyday online ... I guess that makes me a deadbeat, too.
Especially when they spend too much money at the snack bar line or get other extras every day even though they know that's a no-no.
Even if I forget to pay online, the lunch lady will tell my kids they need money, and send them home with a note. I guess it depends on the school, but ours makes it really hard to forget to send lunch money.
Hahahahaha!!!!!
How many little Stone Oak Kids you think have to eat PB&G?????
from what my wife says, they even allow the kids something like 5 real lunches in the negative on your account before they hand them the brown bag at her school.
Yeah, we get notes before they start the PB&J sammiches.
I used to have to make my own damn lunch if I wanted to eat. Ding Dongs & a bolgona sandwich.
based on what my daughter says, there are apparently two or three on any given day in her kindergarten class that "get to" eat pb&j while she "has to" eat some chicken.Hahahahaha!!!!!
How many little Stone Oak Kids you think have to eat PB&G?????
I get shivers and bad flashbacks when I think or hear 'bologna'.
I had bologna snadwiches in elementary school just about every day.......come noon, the bologna gets nice and sweaty, making the bread all soggy.
There's some smart little 5 year olds, right there!!!
I get shivers and bad flashbacks when I think or hear 'bologna'.
I had bologna snadwiches in elementary school just about every day.......come noon, the bologna gets nice and sweaty, making the bread all soggy.Of course it didn't help when you had soggy lettuce and tomato too.
And chips in a baggie.
Well, my kids go to a Judson school ... they are more concerned with football stadiums there.
I don't think we've ever actually gotten to the PB&J stage, but if they have it's because they didn't tell me they needed more money. And they are 12 & 13 without any known learning disabilities, and I'm not a mind reader, so if they don't tell me ... they'll be awfully hungry by the time they get home that day.
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