GARNER – The Garner-Hayfield Community School District announced a tough new policy on parents and students who fail to stay current on their school lunch accounts.
A “lunch policy change” was apparently mailed to parents and published on the district’s website, which reads:
Effective Sept. 2, 2014, all nutrition accounts with a negative balance will be turned over to a collection agency. Also, effective Sept. 2, 2014, any paying student (this includes those approved for reduced price lunches) with a negative balance of $5.00 or more will receive a State of Iowa approved minimal meal. A minimal meal will include a cheese OR peanut butter sandwich, a fruit OR a vegetable, and a carton of milk. Ala carte items cannot be charged if there are no funds available on the account. Thank you for your help in clearing up the negative balance accounts.
Some say the district is doing what any business would do in order to avoid losses to its business: Collect on late balances.
Others, however, seem to believe that this is part of a heavy-handed attitude the district has taken, and that children pay the price.
“Kids with certain grades or negative balance have to sit at a different table,” a Forest City woman wrote via social media.
Another man wrote “feed and educate our kids because our lives AND theirs depends on it”.
Today, Monday, August 18, is the first day of school for high school students in Garner. Elementary students start Tuesday.
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If I couldn’t take enough responsibility to pay to feed my kid a school lunch if I remember to feed my face at around noontime every day, I’d hide in embarrassment. Give the kid a lunch and make the dumbass parent eat a PB & J.
It’s funny how these ‘adults’ can’t remember their kids, but they seem to remember the address to the bar, the casino, the lake, Walmart, etc. It just comes down to parental duties. Get with it.
I hope the kid hides the parent(s) Marlboros when they…
So if a working parent gets behind on the lunch payment the kid has to eat peanut butter sandwiches until the account has enough money in it..? The welfare kids get their free lunches without a hitch? Sounds fair to me……. This is how revolutions get started……
This policy is being implemented all across the state and right here in Mason City as well. Most parents and professionals have deemed it a good compromise. Peanut butter is a protein rich food source that closely matches the nutritional value of the lunch the other kids are receiving. But don’t punish the kids, punish the parents by adding late charges to the past due school lunch bill. Make them come up the “dough” and until they do it’s PB or a cold lunch brought from home.
Anonymouse, You are such a damn ass for your comment.
boo hoo hoo
They can go pick up cans and bottles to redeem and buy their own lunches.
Wow, Are thinking about the children, they will be so embarrassed by their peers if this happens. Kids can sometimes kids can be very cruel, then the school talks about bullying, they should look at themselves. the kids should not be punished by the school, let them eat what the other kids eat, and go after the parents, this is so wrong what the schools are doing. Just sayin.
That what you get when you have a community full of Illegals. They think everything in this country is free. If it ain’t they just steal it.
Leave out the peanut, just butter sandwiches.