I’ve witnessed “lunch shaming” firsthand, and it was heartbreaking. Five years ago, when I started working in the Brandywine School District, I was training in a middle school. I saw a cashier take a child’s lunch, throw it away, and replace it with a cheese sandwich. A look of distress came over that child’s face—I knew immediately that she felt shame at being singled out like that. The cashier looked uneasy as well, but she had to follow the district policy: If a child’s meal account balance was $10 or more in debt, the meal had to be thrown out and replaced, even though the price of the regular lunch was still added to the child’s debt.
Today, all students at my school now receive free school meals under the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) of the federal Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. We were able to do that because more than 40 percent of our students are directly certified for free school meals. Eleven of the 17 schools in our district have implemented CEP. Our district also did away with the cheese sandwich policy and now gives every student a regular meal. All communication about meal debt is only between the adults. That eliminates any possibility of cafeteria shaming and allows food service professionals to focus on providing nutritious meals and a positive environment, instead of acting as debt collectors.
What do you wish more people understood about school meal debt?
There is so much more we can do to help schools address school meal debt. District leaders can work to implement community eligibility in schools that qualify or cover the family share of reduced-price meals. They can also establish an “Angel Fund,” like we have, so businesses and individuals can donate money to help struggling families pay for school meals.
I learned from speaking out through my union that people really want to hear what educators have to say when it comes to the issues that affect our kids.
There are a lot of people who care about our students and want to help. Lawmakers need to hear from all of us.
Learn More
