The following letter was received from Margie Hockenberry, an involved parent of a Havre de Grace Middle School student:
I am writing to express my disgust with a supposed HCPS new lunch policy regarding students whose lunch accounts go into the “negative”.
Apparently, when a middle or high school students lunch account goes into the negative, they can be refused lunch. According to food and nutrition administration at HdGMS [Havre de Grace Middle School] this is a new policy from Harford County’s Food and Nutrition Services and Superintendent. Below is a story a dear friend that brought this to my attention.
My neighbor’s son attends Havre de Grace Middle. He informed his mother that his account was negative by $4 and he needed money. As most of us parents, she is busy. She has a daughter to run to dance, swimming and gymnastics, as well as son involved in sports. You know how it gets: the evening gets away from you and you sometimes forget things that are important like replenishing lunch money. (Not to mention her father was diagnosed with leukemia the day her son is telling her he needs money…that is just an additional issue).Her son goes to lunch at school the next day and goes to lunch. He explains his mother forgot to give him money. The cashier informs him he gets NOTHING. Nothing. Not a water. Not a measly peanut butter sandwich. Nothing. The child goes from eating breakfast at 7am until eating nothing at 3:15. He comes home and tells her of his rough day and issue at school. She calls the school and one of the secretaries informs her “it is in the student handbook and is new this year…he can be refused lunch”. I could not find this in my own child’s handbook, which I reviewed after hearing this nor could I find the supposed policy on the HCPS website. Not an apology. Not an alternative solution on how the child could have obtained food or called home…nothing. My neighbor thinks about it and gets more upset. She calls the school back and speaks with an administrator who luckily is more pleasant about the situation than the former individuals. She apologizes to my friend and says he should have been offered something to eat. She states it common for the cashier to tell the student to go to the office and tell the administrator, who will in turn call the parent and let them know the account is negative and to send money in.
Today, the day after this “issue”, my neighbor calls the Food and Nutrition Services and speaks to “Debbie” who explains that my neighbor is not a responsible parent and is to blame for letting her son’s account go into the negative. Wow….customer service.
This really bothers me since as a new parent in the middle school system, these new changes were not talked about at back to school nights or jump start for parents. So how are we supposed to hear about them?
If they can call us about listening to our president speak or not don’t you think a call to explain the new policy is also in order? What about the emphasis on school performance and eating well? Maybe if it was MSA testing week, he would have gotten something…
Margie Hockenberry
An involved Parent of a HDGMS student
Some schools mention them at jump start. IN fact the policy is two years old and is a result of kids running negative balances in the thousands! 2 lunches in the whole and that is it.
The school lunch program is a self running program, they have to make enough money to stay afloat, they don’t get money from the school budget. I certainly sympathize with this situation, but when you have kids literally having accounts in the negative by hundreds and thousands they had to do something. I always make sure my kids have a few dollars in their lockers as emergency lunch money. Using the account system makes the lines go so much quicker, but this is the reason some parents choose just to give their children lunch money each day.
AMAZING CDEV IS UP ON ALL SCHOOL POLICIES. THE FACT THAT THEY KNOW IT IS 2 YEARS OLD EXACTLY IS INTERESTING.
Yes I read the memo my child brought home with them when it changed. Unlike other parents……I actually read those things! Amazing.
PS your caps lock is on!
THIS MEMO WAS FROM 2 YEARS AGO? YOU REMEMBER GETTING THIS? I WOULD LOVE TO ROUND AND ROUND WITH YOU…BUT YOU ARE SARCASTIC AND DEMEANING. YOU FEEL YOU ARE BETTER THAN OTHER PARENTS? YOU ASSUME I DON’T READ THINGS SENT HOME BY THE SCHOOL?…YOU ARE NASTY. YEP, MY CAPS LOCK IS ON. GOOD OBSERVATION:)
Yes I recall reading it and thinking of implications about how it would change how we operated.
“we operated”. Who is “we”? Food and Nutrition Services? I am staying out of this debate, but it makes me wonder who CDEV works for.
We is my family! Cev has said more then once who he works for!
Sort of thought that CDev was with food and nutrition. Maybe that is why she is so argumentative. She was probably the one i spoke with who felt that she had to remind me 6 times during a conversation that i was not a responsible parent.WHATEVER!! maybe CDev is the one that came up with the policy and that is what they are so passionate about it.I can only hope that the next time CDev needs clarification on a policy that you are treated with the same ignorance and disrespect and unprofessionalism that i was treated with.
HE>>>>>>> beyond that I do not. I empathize with your situation. But the problem should be with the people whom you dealt with not the policy. To get a resolution to your problem you also didn’t need to air it over the internet!
I didn’t see where CDEV said who they work for? Maybe my oversight? Don’t want to add fuel to this fire. But may I commend SRB for sticking up for her child. I hope your family member with leukemia will be okay.
CDEV…do you actually have a job? It’s one I would like if I could write back comments all day on the computer. Goodness, I hope you don’t work for our government,much less HCPS, to be able to be on the computer all day…I would hate to see those tax dollars wasted.
Okay…Ms.Hockenberry posted this letter, not SRB..so don’t blame her. And, the internet is a great way to let others know when there is a new policy and when customer service is poor. Apparently, you are an avid reader and respond to such editorial. So, KUDOS to Ms. Hockenberry and SRB for voicing their opinions! I have to go….I have a j-o-b.
Again I work for a PRIVATE educational facility providing special education services to the children who are too severe to be in a public placement. My employer has no problem with me responding once in a while on a computer as long as it is not when I am with kids and my paper work is all in order.
Cindy since we seem to dislike others posting from their job….What do you do that allows you time to post on the job? Again this policy is not new simply new to the person whom learned of it.
I have no problem with people posting my problem is those who act as if this is foriegn and a massive HCPS conspiracy when what we have is a mom having a bad day who forgot to put money on their kids lunch account, a kid who forgot to let theeir parent know the account was empty and a secretary or two who seemed to be frazzled and short. Not a school system policy of neglect!
CDEV,
That is what I have been trying to say all day! We agree on something. It isn’t the policy’s fault…it was how it was handled. The school itself treated SRB poorly and the child. The policy states , per Mr.Childress: “Secondary Level – If a student has an outstanding charge equal to or in excess of $5.40 (the cost of three lunches), he/she will NOT be allowed to charge breakfast or lunch. Students are never permitted to charge snacks.
**Note: Even if student owes money, if he/she has cash to pay for a meal, we will be happy to provide a meal. Parents may always contact the Food and Nutrition Office at 410-638-4078 with questions.”
With this policy, no elementary student will be denied a meal (even though some have charges exceeding $300.00), they would receive a “no choice” meal. Secondary students (middle and high), could come to school three days with no food and no money and we would cover them. Once they have exceeded that, we would not allow them to charge and would send them to the administrator on duty. ” He didn’t come to school 3 days in a row without money. They should have sent him to an administrator to call home. I certainly don’t blame the policy….really. It was handled poorly and I am glad you and I agree on that.
Ironically, I, too, work with severely disabled children and adults and am self-employed.
See we actually agree. My point from the get go with the editorial is it blames the policy. I empathize with the parents. I read what everyone writes and my issue is the assumption that HCPS is systemically evil and that this “new” policy is to blame. Furthermore the implication that the school is to blame for not notifying them of the negative balance is a little crazy.
Transitioning from grades 5-6 and 8-9 is hard as you have new buildings and new rules and new freedoms, as well as policy changes that affect you differently then they do in the other school. This is one of those cases. The cell phone policy changes from grades 8-9. Part of these transitioning periods is finding out. Jump start programs can’t tell you everything although the one I went to did cover that difference but when the policy changed and my daughter was in grade 5 I thought about the two differences as both I believe were in the memo.
I resent the implication by some that since I take the time to know things and read things that come home from school that somehow I must be working PR for the school board or that my opinion is less valid even if I did.
C Dev: “Some” schools state this at Jump Start. Not all. You are pretty cranky to all who post. Wow!
Just the ones who Yell and think they are better then others who follow the rules!
“than”….not “then” sweetie.
Thanks, my fault
This article was brought to my attention and I felt the need to respond. I have communicated with this parent within the past week, here is part of my response to her email. Some items in parenthesis were added this morning upon further investigation.
“The policy was put in place in March of ’08 due to the sudden increases in outstanding balances during that year. At that point, the amount of money in negative balance accounts across the county exceeded $140,000. It is now down to about $84,000. We felt something had to change as we were not able to collect funds, certain students continued to charge and we had outstanding amounts for some students into the hundreds of dollars. Our purpose was to develop a policy to address these students, be fair and consistent to all, and protect the elementary students from missing meals. The current policy is
“Elementary Level – Students who do not receive free meal benefits and who owe more than $17.00 to the Food and Nutrition Department will lose the privilege of choosing their lunch meal if they choose to eat in the cafeteria. This No Choice Meal will be nutritious, meet all school meal components. The student’s account will be charged for the price of the meal. Students are never permitted to charge snacks
Secondary Level – If a student has an outstanding charge equal to or in excess of $5.40 (the cost of three lunches), he/she will NOT be allowed to charge breakfast or lunch. Students are never permitted to charge snacks.
**Note: Even if student owes money, if he/she has cash to pay for a meal, we will be happy to provide a meal. Parents may always contact the Food and Nutrition Office at 410-638-4078 with questions.”
With this policy, no elementary student will be denied a meal (even though some have charges exceeding $300.00), they would receive a “no choice” meal. Secondary students (middle and high), could come to school three days with no food and no money and we would cover them. Once they have exceeded that, we would not allow them to charge and would send them to the administrator on duty. Not sure of why that did not happen in this case, maybe there was no administrator on duty(follow up communication with the staff – the student was not referred to an administrator, they will be in the future), maybe the cashier forgot, maybe your son said it was ok and decided not to pursue the issue, I have no idea. I do know the policy will be reviewed with staff at HDGMS (and has been). The cafeteria staff at the school is very good, cares about the students and do not enjoy being placed in the position of pulling a meal from a student. We had to do this as the charging was going out of control and people decided they did not have to pay the money back as we continued to provide, in essence, ‘free meals’.
Every now and then, students who normally do not exceed the charge limit become caught up in this (I know how this feels, my daughter ran into this one day in high school – my mistake as I told her I would place money in her account and forgot).
If there were other options, we would have preferred them. Unfortunately we had many students running up large negative balances and then leaving the county and forcing those parents responsibly paying for their child’s meals holding the bag. This was very unfair and these steps we have taken will prevent that from being such a huge issue in the future.
I appreciate your support of the program and hope it continues. If you would like to track your son’s account, go to http://www.cafeprepay.com and set up an account. You do not have to place money on the account but you can check his balance every day.(this parent has taken advantage of the prepay.com site, advice provided over the phone by the person they spoke with and in my email)
Thank you for your email and feedback, it is important we hear from parents, whether positive or negative and continue work to improve the program. Please feel free to communicate with me any concerns about the program.”
Gary Childress
Supervisor of Food & Nutrition Services
Mr. Childress,
This child, to my knowledge, was negative $4. He was not offered any food or drink. What do you do with the leftover food? Throw it away? How much money do you literally “throw away” after lunch is over and the food is discarded? I realize you are not to blame for this “policy”. I also don’t understand why Elementary children get more “leeway” with their accounts. I do sympathize with the money you lose when the same children/families take advantage of policies. However, this child was not offered a solution to go to the office to make a phone call, offered a snack, nothing. THAT is ridiculous. Furthermore, “Debbie” was very rude to this parent. Ironically, Debbie’s name was given to this parent from another parent who deals with Debbie and thought she would handle the situation in a kind manner.
I feel this situation would have been better resolved and put to rest if someone would have apologized to this parent besides a single administrator. Sometimes an apology is all it takes. No apologies noted in your response.
I worked for hcps in the food and nutrition and know how much food is throne away each day. The reason they don’t make any money is it’s all in the trash. This boy was only 4.00 over limit they could of given him some food. All the foodservice workers eat for free everyday why not this child. As I under stand the government reinburses the county for food. That is why if you have ever bought food at school you pay more than the students. i know that this is the policy of hcps and it stinks all they think about is money how about our kids. Isn’t that what we should focus on. I would have taken this issue to the board members.
Gary: On a different but similar note (and because this article made me remember that I needed to contact you regarding this matter)could you also, please, advise as to the policy for a “nutritious alternative” to milk with the school lunch for those children who are “lactose intolerant”? My child is unable to drink milk due to stomach distress and tells me that she must either buy a bottled water at a cost additional to the regular lunch charge or drink a “kool-aid” type “juice drink.” Are there actually better alternatives (ie: “lactaid” or “silk” type milk products) that are included in the lunch cost for these kids other than what she tells me she has been offered? Your response will be most appreciated. Now…..I’ve got to go check her account balance. Thanks.
JKT,2 of my children are lactose intolerant. I’ve had their account marked and they are offered the juice drink instead. My daughter is having a problem now, that there are often no choices available without cheese or some type of dairy. I have a feeling if she asked the lunch ladies, they could make her a hamburger and leave off the cheese, she says the ones there are all made up. She doesn’t want me to call Gary which makes me think she doesn’t want to ask the lunch ladies about it. She’s a senior, I think she could handle it. I did get permission in middle school for my son to carry his LactAid pills with him. My daughter is much more affected and LactAid doesn’t help her much. Good luck.
As a parent, I am appalled that others would allow their children to go to school without a lunch or money to pay for lunch. Whatever the situation is at home, if there is hardship in the family there are programs to assist you. Several people have told me that they have called the office regarding their meal benefit applications and have had immediate positive responces from them. I am appreciative that the HCPS food program offers a charge system at all. If I do get busy and “forget” once, my children will be fed. For a parent to complain that their child was not fed even a PB & J and water is rediculous. Do they expect the school system to pick up these charges? I am also appreciative that this school system offers a meal for a great price they do. I believe it happens to be the lowest lunch price in the state of MD. Have you been shopping lately….For them to offer fresh fruit, tossed salad and multiple choices daily for a $1.70 is fantastic. If children are allowed continual charges I believe this would not be possible for the school system to offer such a reasonably priced meal. Kudos to the folks in charge and the staffs at these locations!
Appalled? Are you kinding me? Have you ever forgot to give your child his or her lunchbox and got to work realizing it? This child wasn’t offered to go to the office to call his responsible mother at her job and she would have taken it money over to him. THis mother was going through what we all go through as parents: a hectic morning. So, I am glad you are perfect…Kudos to you.
How do you know she would have brought it? She failed to remember, 2 days in a row, to provide lunch money or replenish the account.
HOW DO YOU KNOW SHE DIDN’T BRING MONEY 2 DAYS IN A ROW…WHERE DOES IT SAY THAT? HMMM….
$1.70 for lunch x 2 = $3.40 or a little less then $4.00! simple math. Which lead to my inference!
NO…WHERE DOES IT SAY HE DID THIS 2 TIMES? I DON’T SEE IT. I KNOW SIMPLE MATH…THANKS.
“He informed his mother that his account was negative by $4 and he needed money.”
If I would have known he was in the negative, i would have replenished his account.He told me the morning my dad was scheduled to have a bone marrow test to determine what type of leumkia he had so basically my mind was a little pre-occupied. I love all the personal attacking going on. Maybe if your child would have gone hungry or thirsty and you had not known,you would feel a little differently. It’s amazing that there are all of these child experts out there who know how i would have reacted. I guess I should apologize to the child experts for my father having leukemia too and me temporarily forgetting about my childs account. LUCKILY,I have friends who care and hope to reach out for a possible policy change so that noone else has to experience the same situation.
I empathize with your situation but you are claiming the policy is the problem.
“my disgust with a supposed HCPS new lunch policy ”
perhaps your issue should be with customer service not the policy
Customer Service Department? Does HCPS have the money for that? Wow! LOL.
I never said dept.
Cdev…you empathize…really? according to http://www.dictionary.com (which apparently you never check, as i look at your writings…), to empathize is to have empathy, the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another. if you truly empathized with this family’s situation, you would have enough decency to stop writing such negative and inflammatory comments. i don’t know the mother or the lunchless kid or any person who works in this financially stringent lunchroom, but i can safely conject that the mom is having a tough time dealing with the health situation of her father and really doesn’t need to be attacked by a nameless stranger. if you, cdev, are someone who works for the cafeteria group, then shame on your for making them all look bad, proving the bad customer service complaint. if you, cdev, or just a member of the community, then truly demonstrate the empathy you claim to have, and offer to help the family, rather than aggravate them. maybe you could make some of your favorite sandwiches and share them with the boy, to give his mom a break one day. maybe you could find out what the dad’s favorite cake is and make him one. maybe you could just say, if you need anything, i’d be glad to help, because who knows if some day i may find myself in a similar situation and i would only hope that others would offer to help, rather than pick apart my words, which express frustration that may or may not be a direct result of the lunchtime fiasco. at any rate, you are making yourself look like a heartless bitch (bastard). God help you if you ever need help.
Kathi if I was there I would have offered the kid money out of my pocket. I too have gone lunchless, not by choice in ES, because of the mistake of adults and not feeling I should say anything. I also survived!
Interesting comment. Do you know the family credit balances with the Harford County School system?
Read the above article and simple math!
Simple Math? The article was written by this parents neighbor-not parent. why attack SRB? She is upset by the policy and the fact her child wasn’t allowed to call her to get money. Apparently, she had a lot on her mind. You don’t seem to empathize with this woman..if you did, you would pack it in where your comments are concerned. Just let it go and admit this kid got a raw deal that day. Poor cafeteria handling at that particular school, on that particular day…but it should have been handled better.
More what she was implying with the statement!
Could have been an old balance. I know we’ve gone negative before because my kids only buy 1 or 2 times a week. But the problem is with parental notification. The schools should not be relying on the kids to tell their parents what their balance is. They usually send a note home, but how often can notes be misplaced?
There is also no real way to know if your kid is burning through money buying extra things. I think that a better plan would be to buy credits good for standard meals, and any extras would need to be paid for by cash.
Cafe prepay….I use it all the time!
Not everyone uses cafeprepay. Many just send cash or check to put on the account.
True but I am saying there is an option to track the account balance there. Like Edline
Here is a random idea….maybe you should hold you child responsible for telling you. If they are in middle or high school, they are old enough for that. Ine the real world, if my bank account gets low, no one is going to come and tell me. Stop coddling kids and make them take on some responsibility so they will be able to do it when they are older.
He did tell his mother and she was aware…just a bad day for her (see other parts for reason why).
That is what is so good about the charge policy now in place. It allows an occasional mishap. Everyone with children experiences hectic mornings. Believe me…try to have four ready each morning and get all of them off with lunch money or bagged lunches DAILY. Not complaining just noting that we accept that challenge without blaming anyone or make excuses why we forgot. At times kids do forget. If we don’t run it to the school we appreciate the current policy to help.
When the policy was changed, it was explained why the change was made. People had used the system as a credit card instead of accepting it as a courtesy. I am pleased that the school system finally tightened the restrictions on a policy that parents abused. That should be the point in this blog.
It is quite obvious that all of us on here are responsible parents. That is why we are so passionate on this issue. No need to be accusatory to anyone except the dead beat parents that forced the change in policy to begin with.
Excellent point DJ. When are parents going to stop blaming everyone else? Can you go into WAWA and tell them “I forgot my money you should let me charge it”? This would not happen even once never the less 3 or more times that the current policy allows. You forget once. That night, duh you give the child money to clear it up? I have forgotten many times but never 3 times without clearing it up. What do people think is happening to the kids that they send to school without money or brown bag? A call into the office of the school by a parent informing them of the situation at home probably would have avoided this problem for the child. Parents need to hold their own kids responsible if society wants to change the mindset and poor money managing habits that have gotten the country into where it is today.
I vote to have a no money no lunch policy. All parents have access to this cafeprepay thingy that they can check balances everyday. What more do you want?
Hey I have an idea, I live in havre de grace, I’ll come to your house and walk little Johnny by the hand to school everyday and make sure he got his lunch money. For Gods sake he is a sixth grader! Time to cut the umbilical cord!
Gloria,
I too live in HDG…and I hope you aren’t my neighbor! He is a 6th grader and did tell his mother about his account. If a child gets a Gatorade, lunch for 1.70, and say a snack, that is about 4.00-which he was negative by. That is one lunch. This parent isn’t complaining about the policy…about the service her son received. IT wasn’t the six graders fault. It was his mom’s. BUT he wasn’t offered an alternative.
We don’t pay WaWa our tax dollars by the way. AND Wawa doesn’t throw away their food each day.
No actually Cindy…. i am reading from a lunch menu and it consists of an entree, three veggies or fruits and milk. My children are not able to charge the extras. Just the meal. You are proving my point! People have been accustomed to the “you owe me i pay taxes” attitude.
am not being cold-hearted here however why hasn’t the parent discussed this with the son? When my kids started middle school last year we were well versed in what would happen if the kids forgot their lunch or money to pay for it. Kids are not allowed to charged anything but a complete lunch. Never snacks. That being said, if the sons balance was 4.00 he must have charged a lunch previously, paid down on it but not completely, then charged two additional lunches at 1.80 per lunch. Thus giving him a $4 balance.
With the huge outstanding balances still unpaid by a numerous amount of parents i have to agree parents and students must take responsibility. Why keep blaming the school. I checked with our school and they can charge up to $5.70 before getting refused future charges. The elementary school still has unlimited charges and no student will be refused a meal. The child was either over that amount or not telling the parent the whole story.
To me the fact the all elementary kids are never refused a meal sounds like great customer service. Older kids need to learn responsibility and will not die if they go without food for several hours. I bet he will check his account each day to ensure that never happens again.
Case closed!
Cindy this editorial is clearly complaining about the policy! BTW I do not think you can charge snacks just a lunch which does not include gatorade.
you absolutely can use your account to buy snacks, at least in my kids school.
What I think was implied was that although the account can be accessed to purchase snacks no snacks are ever allowed to be charged. Thus all the charges are legitimate meals that have been consumed. By the looks of the letter Mr Childress sent that is true. I do know that I give my kids money each week to budget for themselves. When that money is gone no more snacks. It allows them to learn a bit about finances. I also was informed by the cafeteria lady that I can designate money just for lunches or breakfasts so that the regular account would not be used for snacks. Hey it has worked great for me and the kids and they have a better understanding when they have to use cash to pay for their extras.
I repeat that all the times i have personally been in contact with these folks i have been impressed with their service. Why blow this all out of proportion for a one time event. Everyone talks about perfect parents. Why does SRB throw stones when she herself is not perfect. She has time to get on interenet but not check that her kids are taken care of. Everyone is busy these days and hectic. It sounds like she notified Mr Childress of what transpired over the phone and she received a very good explanation back. That sounds like great customer service to me. He even responded to this forum.
You can use the account to buy snacks unless you request that it be used for lunches only, it’s nice that they give you that option. If the account is negative, the kids aren’t allowed to charge snacks.
I do not have that attitude..”you owe me”…my point was in resonse to your Wawa comment. You don’t know this family like I do and the whole point (as CDEV and I finally came to an agreement on) was the poor way it was handled by the school. It was unfortunate. I am understanding of the policy. I won’t say that again. Thanks for all your comments and for speaking your mind. It’s been a great debatable topic. Case closed for me too.
Cdv should remember the reason for there lunch program that is free to poor families with children in school is because children who are hungry don’t learn as well. It is hard to study and learn when your mind is on your hunger. Maybe you should go a period of hunger and feel the pain of that child for that day. No food , no snacks, no water.
I do every friday during lent and ash wednesday. I realize the arguement now realize that this policy is not new and that there is a reason for it. I am not indifferent to the need of the kid I am simply saying for those who are disgusted with the policy and wish to blame HCPS for this evil you are barking up the wrong tree!
Ok DJ- now you have me completely fired up. I am the parent that contacted the food and nutrition department for clarification on their policy as a new 6th grade parent. You must work for them as you are JUDGING me as a parent the same way their department did. You can be apalled all that you want for my child ACCIDENTALLY going to school without food or money. As in my conversation with the deparment that was not my intention. Maybe you are a stay at home mom with all the time in the world so that if your little darling forgot their lunch you would have the time and ability to run to school to rectify their situation. Obviously not every mother is afforded that luxury.Never once did I expect the school system to pick up the charges, obviously there are plenty of parents who have that expectation.Never once did i state that the program was at fault for my situation. So,let’s just be clear. What has me fired up and my friends fired up is the treatment I received when I called for clarification of the policy. Being repeatedly told that I am not a responsible parent because I forgot one time to give my money to my child is not acceptable treatment from a department that my tax money goes toward. I have taken my concerns to Mr. Childress as you see his reply at the top. While I dont agree with the policy in a whole and that is my opinion and that shared of many others, I realize there is nothing you or me can do about it. So, you can take your perfectionism somewhere else. Maybe more parents need to be perfect like you and then the world would be a better place.
Your article is mad at the policy and you act as if it is new and it is not!
Read your topic sentence:
“I am writing to express my disgust with a supposed HCPS new lunch policy regarding students whose lunch accounts go into the “negative”.”
THE PERSON WRITING STATES THE LUNCH POLICY IS NEW…AS IT IS NEW TO A NEW MIDDLE SCHOOLER. SHE WASN’T TOLD OF THE NEW POLICY SO, IT IS NEW TO THIS PARENT. PEOPLE SHOULD REALIZE THIS MOM, SB, WASN’T LOOKING FOR A HANDOUT. HER SITUATION WAS HANDLED POORLY..BOTTOM LINE. THIS LETTER IS TO POINT OUT HOW POORLY IT WAS HANDLED. A POLICY IS A POLICY…BUT THIS 6TH GRADER WAS TREATED BADLY. HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN OFFERED A CHANCE TO CALL HIS MOTHER. MR.CHILDRESS ALSO STATED THAT THE CHILD”DIDN’T PURSUE IT ANY FURTHER?”…WHAT WAS HE SUPPOSED TO DO? 6TH GRADERS ARE TERRIFIED ENOUGH!
OK the letter makes it seem as if this is a new HCPS policy. which it isn’t again the topic sentence is a criticism of the policy not the way it was handled that seems to be more post writing spin, IMHO!
This is a new policy for a new parent to middle school. And she apparently hasn’t had this issue before, making me think that she is a responsible parent who sends in lunch money. I am all for policy and not “picking up the tab” for others…but this is an unfortunate case.
True but again don’t attack the policy for the fault of some bad communication and lack of knowledge.
So tell me – aren’t policies changed amended and broken all the time. Oh I forgot – because the child was a scared 6th grader and because the child was embarrassed from having his lunch pulled and not given an alternate solution, did that make it alright?
Had the child been someone the cafertia person knew would she have let it go? That day the parent was being a responsible loving daughter sitting with her mother and father as they were being told about leukemia.
Not to blame the parent and I understand that mistakes do happen, but I certainly understand the school’s position. It definitely could’ve been handled more professionally and I think an apology is in order. Maybe those accounts should be set up so that all you can use them for are standard lunches and if the student wants to buy extra snacks he has to use cash. That way when a parent puts enough money in there to buy say 10 lunches the balance isn’t gone in 4 days because the student bought a bunch of junk food.
I know when I was in school the way my parents handled lunch money was they gave me enough lunch money to buy me a regular lunch every two weeks (which is when they got paid) when I got my allowance. So that’d be my $15 allowance (or whatever it was that I only got if I did my chores around the house) plus $10 for lunch for the next two weeks (lunches were $1 back then.) It was up to me to decide what to spend that money on and if I chose to pack my lunch every day I got an extra $10 to spend on whatever I wanted to…I usually packed my lunch since that didn’t cost me anything. Of course once I was old enough to get a job I did and I stopped getting an allowance. They continued to give me lunch money, though. That system seemed to work pretty well and it taught me to take some responsibility for my own actions and little bit about money management.
I’ve been asked whether I am the “Cindy” posting on this story. I am not. I switched to using my full name a few months ago, in part to avoid confusion. No offense to the other Cindys out there. Everyone is welcome to have their say on The Dagger.
Let’s all try to remember that this was only $4.00…an amount that any one would loan to someone in a time of need. This situation was made worse because an adult could not take a moment to advise the office of the situation so that a young student could have lunch that day. I am sorry to say that many people are not able to pay for lunches and this may be a hardship to the lunch program…but would not of been an issue if a responsible adult could help the boy out. I would never be able to turn someone away for a meal. What is wrong with this world today that we cannot help an 11 year old boy get lunch? A phone call home was all that was needed and the lunch program operator should be ashamed. I do, however, find fault with the program that will let students buy overpriced icecream/chips/cookies etc… along with their meals…Maybe you should do away with all the junk. What a waste of money there! And who benefits from this? Certainly, not the kids… This junk is not needed! I say a boycott on lunches for a week may remind some folks in charge that they need to rethink the service that they provide. Nutrition is the reason for lunch…not to make money!
The program is probably not designed to be a money maker but self sufficient! Perhaps the cashier should have told the kid to go see the administrator in the cafe. That did not happen or the kid felt to afraid to ask. You assume the cafe manager was aware of this individual circumstance. You also assume the cafe workers know of this families difficult issues!
just give the kid a meal…..the accont in the negative by $4.00? the policy is ok, but the customer service piece just very unprofessional and insulting to the parent in this case. The could remedy the situation by better notification to the parent that the account is in the red and a peanut butter sandwhich costs maybe 50 cents to the school. no need to let the kid go hungry….what is wrong with people?
I was told by my elementary school principal that the charge policy was changed two years ago and that the charges that still have not been paid are in excess of $100,000. Is this true? If it is I can see why the changes were made. Clearly that department cant be making money as claimed above. My kids find the meals good quality and I see it as a bargain at 1.70 for elem and 1.80 for my older kids.
How can parents send kids repeatedly to school with the expectation that even a pb & j will be served to them. Rocco says its only 50 cents. Well somebody has got to pay those two quarters every time kids forget their lunch. Charity only goes so far. People have to option of filling out the meal form if they are truly in need. My neighbor does it every year and drives a new Tahoe. Wish I could afford a new vehicle and have my kids lunch paid for. Maybe i’ll buy one and send my 3 kids to roccos house for meals.
How bout collecting this debt, cancel the charge system which will hurt parents who truly forget in the morning and start to hold kids responsible for their actions. That may just help the school budget.
Well…maybe they could send a bill at the end of the year to the parent…but Gloria, this was a 6th grader, it only has been 1 month and you sound like a very uncaring person. I am sure that you don’t mean it. If you knew this boy, you may think differently. I would never treat a child in such a way. The state requires the child to be in school, I think that the school should have to contact the parent to advise if he misses lunch! Yes…the boy would survive…if that is your arguement, but to embarass him and have him try to pay attention in class without lunch is really going over the top! I understand some parents do not care for their kids as they should…This parent does care for her son…or she wouldn’t be upset that he missed lunch! Please try to rethink your statement. He is a kid. I am sure you wouldn’t want it to happen to yours! I wouldn’t want it to happen to your child either!
BTW….who all got the memo on the policy change? My children have been going to the Middle school for since 2002 and I have never heard of someone actually being denied lunch…Wow! Ohhhhh…those were the children that sucked it up and went without and didn’t tell their parents…and HOW many times has the school called home? Can anyone answer me that? Just curious if this is such a HUGE problem, you would think that the office was so busy at lunch time calling all these irresponsible parents and telling them to get in there with some fooooood! Or maybe they would send out a reminder to all parents…(Along with the menu) to please clear up some charges…Maybe we can find a better way of dealing with this problem than letting kids go without food. High Schoolers can fend for themselves…let’s not keep lumping them in with Middle Schoolers!
Bonnie that is probably because the courtesy of the charge system in place is not being abused by the folks you know. Great to hear. Contrary to what you may think i do have a caring heart. About 5 years ago my family moved to this community from NJ. They offered nothing in ways of a charge system. I worked in the cafeterias there and actually pulled money out of my pockets to feed kids. I am sure this happens here as well however knowing how the economy is don’t blame the staff. I bet nobody that has been covered by the current policy will send a thank you note for feeding their child when they forgot and they were extended the courtesy of charging will they? Perhaps the parent above was outraged and upset by the situation at hand and the tone of her voice sounded ungrateful. We were not there so we will never know. Also I bet nobody says thank you to the administrators who work so hard to avoid this from happening. I am sorry that i seem cold-hearted or uncaring. My mother was also a lunch lady and gave as i did, many dollars out of her pocket. Never asked for a single penny back in return. The reason you don’t hear of it is that the cushion of the charge ability is working. The parent that react and pay it off are extended it again. the parents that ignore it or what more and more for free are refused. Maybe when this happens the school can call social services on the parents for not supplying food to their children. After all that is what that department is for. no?
I did because my child brought it home when it was mass distributed. I also recall an auto call about it to.
I bet the kid won’t have a negative balance again.
We got the memo at least a year or more ago. This is not a new rule for Harford County schools. They let you go 2 lunches before they refuse. I put $40 per child via the net into their account monthly. They also both keep money in their locker just in case they need it. My boys can get snacks with their money, but they know that they only have $40 a month and that is that. Again, this is not a new rule!
This is not a new rule. This rule was placed well over a year ago. I give my boys $40 a month for their lunch accounts. That way they do have a little extra for their account or a snack, etc. They also both keep $5 in their locker just in case they need money. AGain, this is not A NEW RULE!!
I could not believe it when I read this. Grow up and take responisbility – it is the parent’s fault not the school that the child went hungry. She could set the account up with automatic replenishment since clearly it is not a priority in her life to monitor the account (that’s how we set it up – no brainer). Furthermore, if you go to the store to buy something and you don’t have money or credit available they don’t let you have it anyway. Basic principal in life folks. Don’t ruin a good program for others over this irrational behavior.
I know it has been awhile since this was posted but I just read it and was impelled to comment.
I feel bad for the student who wasn’t served over a $4 negative balance. I am willing to bet that if he had mentioned it to one of his teachers, they would have reached into their own pocket and given the child the money. I have personally seen a colleague pay an electric bill for a family of one of our students whose family was having a difficult time before Christmas.
Unfortunately, the folks who work in the cafeteria don’t know the individual situations of students and problems that may be occurring at home. The problem is, they have a policy that they have been told to enforce and that’s what they were doing. I am glad the policy is in place. I have had to hand out over due balance notices to students that were literally in the hundreds of dollars. One partcular student had a balance well over negative $400 and told her classmates that she hadn’t paid for a lunch since elementary school. Then on a field trip she bought over $100 worth of souvenirs. I wish this was an exaggeration. All I could think was- “Gee…you could have bought one thing for $20 and put the rest toward the lunch account!”
To make a long story short, don’t blame the underpaid person at the end of the line taking the money. Blame the hundreds of parents that have abused the system for years.
go back to the real old skool.. Students bring their lunch. PERIOD!!!!!!!!! no bring.. no eat. stop whining about a system that has tried to please students , nutritionists, parents and budget personell. It is a parents responsibility for their childs lunch, homework being done , proper clothes and being to school or the bus on time. It is tiem that the parents look in the mirror and say, I have a lot on my plate, but my child is top priority.