If your school isn't all free/reduced meals...

[SaltineQueen]

How does your school handle breakfast and/or lunch when a student's lunch account (if that's how you handle meal payments) gets too far in the hole?

New policy this year is that if a student goes $X in the negative they get an alternate lunch of a cheese sandwich & milk...all grades, K-12!! There is no way that is going to sustain a child who may not have eaten breakfast, let alone a middle or high school athlete.

We were faced with this situation for the first time today & it broke our hearts (student is obviously not a F/R meal kiddo). We ended up covering it so the student could eat a "normal" lunch today & hope mom comes through with her promise to send lunch money. I despise the fact that we are punishing the kids because the parent can't get their **** together! I'm rallying our nurses to try to change this. We can take a parent to court over unpaid book fees, why not meal fees?

Mods...please don't post this to FB.

[OyWithThePoodles, RN]

Mods...please don't post this to FB.

?????? Is there an All Nurses Facebook page? Why would posts from here get posted there? Can moderators automatically do that? Sorry, just confused and now nervous about anything I post on here...

If contacted admin's on this in the past, this was their response: "The individuals responsible for the FB material were contacted and they discussed your request.

As you pointed out, this will not be possible. We try and advise all posters that they need to be mindful of keeping private and/or potentially identifying info out of their posts. We realize that restricting some information on the boards will not always allow the for feedback desired, but in the long run, it is safest alternative for all involved.

Again, thank you for contacting us. Please do so again if you need assistance.

AN Admin Team"

If I make a thread that is something I specifically don't want on facebook I will type "DO NOT POST TO FACEBOOK" at the beginning. I don't know if they listen, but....

[WineRN]

Our building is K-3. Most are too young to carry this responsibility, IMO. But I agree to a point for the older kids, but the money still has to come from the parents.

Thanks for the clarification, in the OP I saw K-12 and my mind jumped to the older kiddos.

[scuba nurse, BSN, MSN, RN]

Is there a FB page?? I have not seen it.

In the district where i work it all all free breakfast and lunch. But where I live, they will get a cheese sandwich if they have no money in their account. They are allowed to go over the limit by one lunch, then have to pay. I am not there at lunch time, so not sure what happens, and my own kids bring their lunch. But I do know they send out MULTIPLE notices to parents of low accounts via email and written notice.

[Amethya]

Our school has Free/Reduced lunch, but since Harvey, we been giving Free lunch to everyone until the 30th. My kids school is doing the same thing, but when I went to their school district they will tell me when my lunch money was low and I would tell my mom, I do remember that if someone forgot their money, they still gave us the lunch or gave us a ham/cheese sandwich with an apple and milk. My mother's school district though, their school is actually giving free lunch to all this year, so that's good. It depends on the school district, but I personally would like if they give free lunch to everyone. Here, some kids do go hungry, but that's because they actually choose to, they don't like the food at school and before they know it, their stomach hurts and they come to my office for some snacks.

[NurseCard, ADN]

My kids' school distict uses "MySchoolBucks.com". I love it. I go online and

put money in their lunch accounts. Easy peasy. Saves me from having to

walk into the office and take money, or them from having to carry money to

school and possibly lose it.

The website also sends me notices through my email, whenever their

accounts are low.

If my kids do run out of money, and it has happened in the past I am

sorry to say , as far as I know they still get a regular lunch but

cannot get any "extras". And they keep getting charged.

A cheese sandwich and milk sound fine to me really. Heck, my

kids both go nuts over ham and cheese with a little mayo.

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

my school does the cheese sandwich with milk if a kid goes into the negative. The kids may balk at it, but they can also take fruit. Heck, it's marginally healthier than the grilled cheese they will be served later on in the week - and they would have to pay for that lunch tray for essentially the same food.

[lifelearningrn, BSN, RN]

This is known as lunch shaming and a lot of districts and states are doing away with it (THANK GOD). A cheese sandwich for a growing child?

[OldDude]

This is known as lunch shaming and a lot of districts and states are doing away with it (THANK GOD). A cheese sandwich for a growing child?

"Lunch shaming?" I have never heard that term.

What is the solution/replacement for doing away with the cheese sandwich and milk provision for those not qualifying for free lunch but have a negative lunch balance?

[kidzcare]

What is the solution/replacement for doing away with the cheese sandwich and milk provision for those not qualifying for free lunch but have a negative lunch balance?

parental responsibility?

Ok, now that we've all stopped laughing about that as a realistic option.... It's hard. Do we punish kids for their parent's poverty or forgetfulness? Will they be bullied or made fun of by peers? There's no easy answer.

[OldDude]

I'll withhold further comment until we hear from lifelearningrn.

[SaltineQueen]

Luckily this has a happy ending, for now. We covered the student for a couple days and mom came through with lunch money. I'm sure we'll face it again at some point. There's got to be a better way...I just don't know what it is.

[NutmeggeRN, BSN]

Is there a FB page?? I have not seen it.

Allnurses.com has a FB and periodically they post the threads there. The comment form the general public can be entertaining on occasion.