Barber Middle School in Texas trashes kid´s breakfast because he was 30 cents short

reply to post by seeker1963


You didn't even read my post. Charity is an act of free will. It is not something you force or abuse others for not participating in. If you abuse others for simply not giving away something for free then congratulations, you'd be a great government worker.

Teaching children that compassion and charity is a wonderful gift from other people that should be thanked is a much more important lesson than teaching them to be abusive and hateful toward those that choose not to participate. If you believe otherwise, that is your own prerogative.

How about...

"Kid, your account is now out of money. Tell your parents are you will not get food tomorrow."

The account has a balance of -30 cents which is adjusted when money is added. Just another reason why our country isn't what it use to be.

In some schools the teachers relay this type of account info to the parents. I can't see not giving out one grace meal and stating none tomorrow if the parent don't send the money.

OrphanApology
You have no idea if they even had the power to give away free food.

But they have the power to throw away free food?

Bull and you know it.

This is simply a blatant manifestation of an education system focused more on accurately repeating rather than understanding.

reply to post by OrphanApology

Doesn't change reality.

Actually it does. I have on many occasions, in my adult life, been short, perhaps even more than .30, and was still given my product. Difference being that they were usually privately owned businesses who appreciate repeat customers and tended to be decent people.

The way children are raised is supposed to be preparing them for adulthood. As adults, you cannot walk into a store and buy a sandwich 30 cents short.

Ah, see my last response. Thats your problem right there. This was not a store, this was not a private owned business, this wasn't even a publicly owned business. This was a school funded by our tax dollars.

From the moment you drop your kid off at school till the moment you pick them up, the school is 100% responsible for your child, including their well being. (If you have children, read the fine print when you sign them up for kindergarten, you will be surprised at how much parental authority the school is given).

Now, when I don't feed my child, it's called child endangerment, why should the school be held to a different standard?

So for the cafeteria, the kid is short 30 cents. Tomorrow others are short 50 cents, and the next day a dollar.

So what? The cafeteria is not a "for-profit" company, it is a publicly funded, socialized program.

This seems like a sensationalized story to punish someone for doing what service food workers do everyday, which is deny a transaction when you don't pony up. If mcdonalds runs my debit and it comes back denied they don't give me the hamburgers free.

You keep comparing private companies to public schools, apples and oranges.

Even so, McDonalds is not caring for your child 8hrs a day nor do they have a legal obligation to care for the "well-being" of their customers.

reply to post by BardingTheBard


It's a common policy of cafeterias to throw away food when a card is denied. It's definitely possible that this is normal procedure. Most cafeteria workers can get fired for giving away free food. If anything, someone should at least check and see what the policy is before crucifying the worker.

reply to post by Act1Scene1


Hurling [snip] at someone is assault.

reply to post by OrphanApology

Yes that's the point. People are raising concerns with a system... via the cafeteria worker's behavior... that would set it up such that rather than still allow the food to be eaten and a method of ensuring the 30 cents ARE eventually gotten... the food is thrown away and the child is left hungry.

Yes it's policy. It's bad policy. Especially for programs *pitched* at *ensuring* the nutrition of human beings... not as training grounds for hard nosed lessons in finding yourself short of cash one day.

roadgravel
How about...

"Kid, your account is now out of money. Tell your parents are you will not get food tomorrow."

The account has a balance of -30 cents which is adjusted when money is added. Just another reason why our country isn't what it use to be.

In some schools the teachers relay this type of account info to the parents. I can't see not giving out one grace meal and stating none tomorrow if the parent don't send the money.

edit on 11/11/2013 by roadgravel because: typo

I think this is how it was at my school. It wasn't "charity", they were getting their money back. I think the one thing to remember here is that many of these canteens are contracted out to private companies. My university use Sodexho.

What great logic, kid is 30cents short so throw the whole $3 worth of food out. When I was at school our canteen was pretty good, the ladies in there would always let us iou and make sure we were eating properly.

But there is nothing like trying to lear with no food in your belly!

reply to post by OrphanApology


Here is what I found in the Barber Middle School handbook:

• Charge Policy reminder: No breakfast charges are allowed. Only one (1) lunch charges are permitted in grades 5 - 6 . When charge limits have been reached, milk and a fruit will be given as complimentary food to the studen t. The parent/guardian is responsible to repay any charges that have accrued before the end of the school year and for charges made prior to application approval.

Emphasis is mine.

Was he given his milk and fruit?

Source

reply to post by BardingTheBard


Programs pitched at ensuring nutrition sometimes exclude the most vulnerable groups, namely single people with no children or family. They subsidize bad behavior half the time. I was homeless and they denied me food stamps, that's just one example.

There are many nice people out there that will give to you but there should never be a moment when you abuse someone or crucify them for choosing not to. If anything, be very thankful when someone does give you money. In the case of being 30 cents short, the cafeteria worker didn't give away free food. That could be because of policy or choice but either way it's not a requirement.

If anything I'm sure the principle will look bad for this and the policy and training will be changed in future.

wtf is wrong with people........we deserve to die as a species with behaviour like that

reply to post by sheepslayer247


That would be interesting to find out. I can't find in the story whether or not he was can you?

reply to post by Cabin


A provocative lesson in corporate values and authoritarian subjugation. Another lesson would be to offer the child $1.00 to check other children's accounts and do the same to them.

Now that the child understands the "score", so to speak, I'm sure they will grow up and vote GOP. ROLMFAO!!

reply to post by roadgravel


I guess I am thankful, that is how our schools here handled it. I would get a note saying, your sons account is -3.00. They always let them eat.

The parents need to look into the schools policy, and if that is the way they handle things, get it changed.

Utterly ridiculous!!!

reply to post by OrphanApology

The school would not give the child his food until his mother arrived and paid for the meal. “I said, ‘Well, I’m on my way. I’ll pay for it.’ And she said no, I would have to bring some money before he could have breakfast,” the mother continued.

Although the breakfast only cost 30 cents, the cafeteria server threw the food into the trash and sent the 12-year-old boy to class.

Apparently, he was not given milk and fruit...as is policy.

ETA: This entire ordeal is just plain wrong and I think you can agree that this goes way beyond little life lessons for the kid.

I like Money too!!

Tristram Stuart: The global food waste scandal
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWC_zDdF74s
www.youtube.com...


Stop wasting food: Selina Juul at TEDxCopenhagen 2012
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIIhbjY4s8A
www.youtube.com...


Idiocracy "I like money"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZHCVyllnck
www.youtube.com...

reply to post by sheepslayer247


It doesn't say he wasn't given the fruit and milk. A decent reporter would follow up and say "per school policy children are allowed fruit and milk, which was denied as well".

It doesn't say anything about the fruit and milk, one way or the other.

abclocal.go.com.../local&id=9316051

That's the link to the original story.

Here's a snippet:

"Dickinson ISD's procedure is that we do not allow student charges for breakfast. Many school districts follow this same procedure. Students get verbal warnings to let parents know once the account starts getting low. Written warnings are sent home to parents before money runs out."

Castilleja admits either her son forgot to relay the verbal warning or she forgot to replenish his account. Either way, she feels the policy should allow for breakfast charges that can be repaid.


She admits it's her fault. Just sounds like the mom is to blame not the worker or cafeteria. There is plenty of warnings sent in regard to balances running low.

Just in comparison in how it is done here.

1-9th grade (7-16 year-olds) foods are funded by the government.

10-12th (17-19 year olds) with monthly payments (maybe expanded to free by now- there were talks after I graduated, but not sure) made by kids themselves or their parents, which comes to roughly 1.75 dollars a day.

Meals are healthy, not full-veggie (I do not remember a fast-food serving once during my years). Meals were enough, if somebody wanted more, as long as something was left it was given to them. Also as some kids who had paid were absent from school, somebody could eat on their name, as after all there were extra servings counted in beforehand. At the end of the lunch anybody who wanted could take what was left, as it would have been thrown away anyways. The cafeterias are required to provide as much milk as kids want during the meal and also certain amount of fruits have to be served every day.

It was run by private company, although the rules were set by the country and schools and the prices were under regulations, so the profits would stay reasonable from an essential service like that (as far as I remember these lied at under 2% of total revenue) 2 cents added to every dollar sounds very reasonable cost considering that quality food was served relatively cheap.