School refuses child lunch over £1.75 debt

What do you guys make of this and and what are the rules over in the states if a parent does not pay for their childs school meal.

IMO the dinner lady should of gave him his meal.

The school say they where abiding by the rules and have done nothing wrong.

www.bbc.co.uk...

A father has taken both of his children out of a Devon primary school after one was refused lunch because the family owed £1.75. Gary Lynn, who has also resigned as a governor at Hayes Primary School in Paignton, accused the school of "physical and emotional neglect" reminiscent of Oliver Twist. He said his 11-year-old-son, Jacob, was in tears after being refused the meal. The school said its kitchen staff were "abiding by the rules".

ah poor kid, the dinner ladies should have gave him his meal.

What was the father at letting his kid get into 'school dinner debt' in the first place? that's not very responsible.

tut tut tut.

reply to post by NeoSpace


Not really hard for the parents to make lunch for their kids in the morning or the night before .

It really is a simple life lesson for the kids NOTHING is for free , Also if bills are not paid on time we run into trouble.
That is the world we live in

Here is the solution. If you cannot pay for the meal, stand at the end of the line. When everyone who payed gets their meals, instead of throwing out excess, give it to them.

Problem solved.

You can say those children are singled out. I agree to a certain degree.

At the end of the day, there is always someone at the end of the line even if everyone paid.

Recently happened in the states
Kitchen staff binned the meal infront of the child if my memory's right

And at 11 years old......damn the student debt starts early now a days

reply to post by NeoSpace


If the School had allowed the child to have a meal, other parents would have seen it as an opportunity to take advantage and not pay, knowing that their child would get fed.

If the parents had acknowledged the warnings that their account was in debit and paid up, whether it was accidental or not, the child would have eaten that day.

Who is to blame.. clearly the parents for taking their eye off the ball. Lesson learnt?

US

Kitchen staff binned the meal infront of the child

UK

one of the mealtime assistants brought over an apple because she felt sorry for him.

Cultural differences?

She said "I was abiding by school rules"

Well that still makes you a total bitch. Pol Pott had rules

Some people just need to take a step back and put their selves in the persons position, reanalyze that # and make the right choice - Would she of said, "well I haven't paid the school debt, so your not eating today" to her own son? No she wouldn't, and that makes her a total bitch.

Bravo to the woman who gave him an apple but if I would of witnessed that, the boy would be eating a full meal and I'd be prepared to loose my job over it.

I never got any free meals at school. What is this?

I mean, I went without lunch all the time. If I had money, the tuck shop was a luxury.

What's going on? Why is the school supposed to give free food now? When did this start?

..wait how is this school fault?? We all like to hate on public school.. but debt?

IT'S Parents fault... how the heck a child on debt? for FOOD?

I mean if the child is on debt, that means the school already gave him a "freebie".

I remember always being told to tell my parents my lunch card ran out of funds. Back in the very early 90s in grade school. Was kind of a pre loaded debit card type system.

I wouldn't doubt they told the child, and he simply forgot to notify his parents about his lack of funds, because...

HE IS A CHILD.

Children shouldn't have to deal with their parents debt. Not saying it is the parent's fault either, these days a lot of people are lucky to have what they do.

reply to post by winofiend


Here if your parents are unemployed you are entitled to free dinners in school.

So... Isn't this a case of neglect and maltreatment of an under-16 in the school's care, and isn't that kind of a criminal offence? Isn't it also illegal in this country to hold an under-18 responsible for any debt?

The school might want to think about getting a lawyer.

They did that here before but I don't know if they still do it. I told my daughter when she told me about the school doing that to some kids that it was probably for the best. The commercialized food they are serving in school is far from good for thinking, they seem to serve goiterinogens every day. For people with a low metabolism, it lowers brain function making the troublesome high metabolism kids have an advantage.

Originally posted by winofiend
I never got any free meals at school. What is this?

I mean, I went without lunch all the time. If I had money, the tuck shop was a luxury.

What's going on? Why is the school supposed to give free food now? When did this start?

If you are mandated to attend 'school' 5 days a week 6 hours a day - the same people that had mandated you had better bloody feed you!

Anyway - 'free' school meals are for the 'poor' and paid for by the tax payer.

An ounce of common sense would have worked here.
You give the kid a meal. You call the parents and tell them they are overdue and to send money tomorrow.
Everyone wins. If the parents were at fault, the kid shouldn't have to be stigmatised.

reply to post by winofiend

I never got any free meals at school. What is this?

Neither did I, and I remember quite a few days where I forgot to pack a lunch because " I " was responsible to pack it and "NOT" my parents. No money left on Dad's dresser 5th ~ 8th grade and even through High school.... My thoughts at that time.... "SOB, it's gonna be a hungry day. maybe I can hussle someone out of half of there sandwich"

reply to post by NeoSpace
In our school district if a child has racked up the limited amount of credit and still has no money for lunch they give the child a sandwich, bag of chips, a piece of fruit and a carton of milk- and we don't have a rich school district. It's inhumane to let a child go without food when the school has plenty, especially when most districts waste money on a lot of superfluous crap.

What a joke,

what kind of person refuses a kid a meal and then justifies it by saying "well that's the rules!"

and at a school were they have a duty of care!

I personally would take my kids out of that school after hearing about that

I happen to think that school meals should be free anyway

Around here the kids are allowed to get 1-2 meals in debt before they stop letting them eat the normal lunch. Then they have to eat a cheese sandwich and a milk. Other schools do a peanut butter sandwich but our school is nut free. The students have a notice sent home daily once their balance reaches below $3.

Since this student's balance was negative, it would seem the school had already given him a lunch on credit. They had also sent home three notices they claim, if they made it home. While I don't agree with the school giving out NOTHING, I do believe this is the parent's fault, not the school. If he only pays $10 at a time, wouldn't he have wondered why the $10 was stretching longer than usual?

Originally posted by freedomSlave
reply to post by NeoSpace

 

Not really hard for the parents to make lunch for their kids in the morning or the night before .

It really is a simple life lesson for the kids NOTHING is for free , Also if bills are not paid on time we run into trouble.
That is the world we live in

There is no such thing as "tough luck" when a hungry child is concerned. Once in school, they just can't go seek food like an adult can. They are stuck without food until they get home. Not only is this torture, how can they learn while distracted by hunger?