Oklahoma Watch: Students may face official 'lunch shaming'

>The students affected by these policies typically don’t qualify for the federal free lunch program, although there may be some whose parents decline to apply. Still, there are often family circumstances behind meal debt, such as a parent losing a job, or working intermittently, or other financial setbacks.

>But some school officials say lunch programs are costly to run, and unpaid meal debt is a problem they have to address. The debt can accumulate into thousands of dollars by the end of the school year.

>The lunchtime incident at Harrah wasn’t handled properly, said Harrah Superintendent Paul Blessington, because students should have been identified before receiving the hot meal. By policy, students with unpaid charges are provided an alternative meal of a sandwich, fruit and drink.

>The situation is difficult for a district like Harrah where about half the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches but the other half pays full price, he said. Nationally, lunches cost about $2.50 each on average.

>Blessington said the district can’t absorb thousands in unpaid lunch bills; the 2,200-student district has accumulated over $2,000 in unpaid meals this year.

>At Choctaw-Nicoma Park, students’ hands were stamped only after accumulating a negative balance of more than $5 and the school had taken other steps to let families know of the unpaid charges, a school official said. Parents complained, however, and the practice was discontinued several weeks ago.

>Unpaid meal debt is less of an issue at large urban school districts where most students receive free meals.

>All of Tulsa Public Schools’ elementary students eat free. But middle-school students with more than $8.40 in unpaid charges receive an alternative meal, which is just half a cheese sandwich and water for lunch and a piece of toast or graham crackers for breakfast. High school students who can’t pay receive nothing.

>That’s the official policy, but it is likely not enforced in schools out of compassion for the students, said Emma Garrett-Nelson, a TPS spokeswoman.

>“Our guidance that we give to our cafeteria workers is the dignity of our students comes first,” Garrett-Nelson said.

>Schools are expected to examine their lunch policies now because the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers school meal programs, has asked states to define their policies by July 1. Oklahoma doesn’t have a statewide policy, but local school districts will still have to submit a plan to the state Department of Education.

>One recommendation by the Agriculture Department is to have schools move the cashier to the front of the lunch line to prevent situations where a child’s meal is taken away because they can’t pay, allowing staff to address the issue discreetly.

>That practice — trashing lunches served to students who can’t pay — is now banned under New Mexico’s Hunger-Free Students’ Bill of Rights Act. The legislation, which was signed into law in April and is the first of its kind in the country, requires schools to give all students access to the same lunch regardless of ability to pay and prohibits schools from having students to do chores to work off debt.

>The lawmaker who introduced it, New Mexico Sen. Michael Padilla, had to mop the floors of his school cafeteria when he couldn’t afford lunch, according to an NPR story.

TANSTAAFL. There ought to be shame with accepting public assistance. Kids need to learn these things early.

>School district cannot handle $2000 debt

How do they keep the lights on?

Why don't parents just send the kids with a packed lunch? There was no cafeteria when I was in grade school

>>137244
>Why don't parents just send the kids with a packed lunch?
Because most working poor can afford to feed their kids dinner(barely) and very little else, or might be in a place where they can't store food for their kid easily. They could also just be shitty parents that don't feed or take care of their kids.

The reasons don't particularly matter though, the end result is that some kids come to school hungry. And unless you're going to pay the State to take those kids away, and provide them with a better living arrangement(which will cost more) that's not going to change.

>There was no cafeteria when I was in grade school
When were you in school grandpa? 1946 made it a federal regulation schools had to provide food and a cafeteria.

>>137231
Proles btfo, better learn to stop being poor in MAGAland.

>>137244
>>137244
Some parents are too lazy and or incompetent to prepare a simple lunch for their children. They then rely on public school based meals. The funds for these meals must be relayed to the school via the student. Kids tend to be irresponsible and forget to tell thier parents that funds are needed, and only remember once they're in line to pay for the meal they dont have funds for. They put ink on kids hands so the parents will have a visual cue to send money.

>>137250
>Because most working poor can afford to feed their kids dinner(barely) and very little else, or might be in a place where they can't store food for their kid easily.

Grade A bullshit. staple foods to create a basic lunch cost very little and there are programs in place(wic, ebt, ect) to provide food for families that cant afford it.
Most often the case is simple negligence, bad behaviors, and bad decision making.

This hand marking is nothing new. They were doing this back in at least the 90s at my school.
I had my hand stamped on a regular basis and thats how my mother new to send money because I was a stupid little shit and didn't learn to plan ahead. And I never cared at the time either because I'd still get my food anyways. The account would just go negative.
Now if they took away the tray and stamped my hand I might have learned to give a shit.

>>137244
You also rode a dinosaur to school.

Why would the schools be at fault here? They give kids pbj sandwiches on their dime. It happened to me at least once when my mom forgot to give me a check, and other kids many times. None of the other kids cared.

>>137231
Why? was a scarlet letter to on the nose?

Wtf why is lunch shaming a thing? Pay the fee to get your kids school meals or prepare a lunch for your kids

>>137250
>1946 made it a federal regulation schools
>>137266
>You also rode a dinosaur to school.

I live in Canada, and there are no such regulations here

>>137262
>a basic lunch cost very little and there are programs in place(wic, ebt, ect) to provide food for families that cant afford it.

Confirmed for never having been on food stamps. EBT and other benefits for a family of 3(two adults, one child) cover about 200$/two weeks in good liberal states, and food costs are one of the most sky-rocketing costs associated with living in the US, especially with stagnant wages.

>>137262
>Most often the case is simple negligence, bad behaviors, and bad decision making.
Notice I also said:
>They could also just be shitty parents that don't feed or take care of their kids.

The result is still the same:


>The reasons don't particularly matter though, the end result is that some kids come to school hungry. And unless you're going to pay the State to take those kids away, and provide them with a better living arrangement(which will cost more) that's not going to change.

>>137231
>Don't feed your kids.
>Complain when people tell you to.

>>137231
>Others put a stamp on their hand that reads “lunch money” as an alert to parents but also visible to peers.

Jesus Christ America, is everything you do some special blend of stupid and cruel? You might as well brand the kid with I'M A HUGE FAGGOT PLEASE PICK ON ME!

>>137231
Public humiliation is the closest we have to corporal punishment, props on Oklahoma for doing this. You can't potty train a puppy by letting it go by frwning at them every time they piss on your bed. You smack them, and drop them outside for an hour or so, and god help the pupper if you catch him doing it. Of course there comes restraint, and that is where a civilized punishment comes from. And it's targeting the kids who don't know any better with a minor, yet firm punishment. If you're poor, you can't help it, and that's understandable. But fortunately in nearly every school district, if your family makes less than 35k, you can get a full meal for 40 cents or something like that. These kids who get a hot lunch despite having no money aren't poor, they just don't know how to budget. And so it is necessary to chastise them into paying up, or facing their peers laughing at them. These kids are just like dogs who know not to piss on your bed, but do so anyways. You gotta be firm.

>>137242
The money goes towards expensive football stadiums. I wish I was exaggerating.

Being low income is poor shaming me.

Quick, everyone in this thread give me $5 so I don't have to grow up being shamed.

>>137405
Schools can't just decide to build new stadiums without the city and tax payer approval. Things like this literally get put on a ballot. If the majority of voters don't approve, it never gets built.

>>137300
So you went to school for Seven hours with no guaranteed lunch? Not even American jobs are that cruel.
A kid can't drive to another location for food, a kid can't earn the income for food, a kid could probably muster a sandwich or some pasta but that's expecting the kid to know how to cook. What were the poorer classmates eating? Dust?

>>137433
Your parents packed a lunch for you. How is this something you can't understand? Most kids had a sandwich and an apple or orange. Simple

>>137421
Lol. Confirmed for not living in Oklahoma. The dipshits care more about sportsball than their worthless education. They're always crying about how they can't afford to pay their teachers and then spend 1.5 million replacing the shitty football field with astroturf.

>>137434
I was lucky if they remembered to give me money, you had competent parents while I just accepted an empty belly. Those days at school when I was too ashamed to even go to the cafeteria, I'd just end up in the gym and pretend I already ate.

Honestly if I lived in America and they tried to make me pay for the atrocious shit you feed your students there, I'd just give my kid some real food to take to school with them.

>>137393
>training dogs by corporal punishment
You're kidding, right?

Just do it California did give the kids state-subsidized lunch in exchange for new (((textbooks)))

>>137244
Parents won't provide for their children, growing increasingly dependent upon the state.

>>137440
No, he is a shitty human being that has some valid points but retarded solutions.

>>137439
As long as it fits within their retardedly strict guidelines of what a healthy meal is. Anything remotely unbalanced will earn you a visit from some child welfare agents.

Why is America so barbarous? What fault do the kids have for their family being poor? Why brand them as a target for public shaming and bullying for something they have no control over?

>>137455
>books and education is a Jewish conspiracy
This better than anything explains why Trump can be elected president in the modern US

>>137459
Half the people ITT seem to think subsidized school lunches is a form of communism.

>>137482
I think it's unnecessary for all but the most dire situations.

>>137299
and of course don't shame little kids

>>137440
No, it's an anology. I'm not saying whip a dog for pissing on a bed, but you yell at it, tell him why it's bad in a way he understands, and force him outside.

How is shaming a bad thing? The earlier these spoiled kids learn that the world is a hard and ugly place that does not care about them, that everyone else will eat them to get ahead, the better. You are the only one who can pull yourself up, you are the only one who you can trust.

>>137498
>the kids who are so poor they can't afford lunch are spoiled

>>137499
maybe associating being poor with feeling bad at a young age will encourage them to not be a piece of shit like their parents and get a job at 16

>be one of the richest and most successful countries in the world
>unable to provide food for your schoolkids
Jesus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F26mKvwDf5E

>>137525

Are you fucking retarded?

>>137525
>maybe associating being poor with feeling bad at a young age will encourage them to not be a piece of shit like their parents

Or it'll be how you fuel a rise in communism because that's basically how it happened in every country that enacted communism.

>>137537
It's almost like the two are directly connected somehow.

>>137437
It doesn't matter where I live. That 1.5 million had to be approved by tax payers. If you feel so strongly about this, perhaps you should get into local government and make a proposal that local public schools give away free food so they can tax you more. This seems like the right solution.

>>137244
In a handful of places, they forbid bringing your own lunch; usually for the same reasons they justify uniforms.

>>137322
Buddy I live in NY and manage to keep everyone fed with less than 300 a month sorry but poor is not an excuse for not feeding kids when their food budget is bigger than mine.

>>137370
God forbid we call out shitty parents and their kids get a dose of the real world to learn from. Fuck their feelings they still get to eat

>>137393
Well said though I doubt it will be well received here on reddit lite

>>137477
Buddy the inbred hicks and hippie libs up my way both agree common core is a disaster

>it's a "slightly less poor people criticize those who are more poor than them" episode
everytime

>>137537
>sweden
>provide food for your schoolkids
>don't provide schooling
Good to see the state is taking on the role of parenting instead of schooling.

Being unable to feed your kids is the definition of child abuse.

if you can't resist spending all your welfare on drugs, you should have your children taken away and put in a real home.

Why are taxpayers subsidizing drug abusing child abusers?

>>137786
>if you can't resist spending all your welfare on drugs

No one fucking does this. Pull your head out of your ass. I can tell you know absolutely nothing about how the welfare system works.

They keep track of how much they give you each month and you have to do re-certifications every year. If they notice that your bills aren't being paid or that you're always lacking necessities they force you to see a financial advisor that's working for them.

Also in NYC, if you're capable of working they send you to a program called WEP (Work Experience Program) where you work in the parks or with the department of transportation in order to keep your benefits. You have to do this until you find employment through a job agency that they also run.

You faggots are always acting like welfare is just free money being tossed around and recipients are out here eating gourmet food and living in upscale apartments.

Kill yourselves.

>>137799
If someone can't afford to feed their kids, they recieve help from the government.

So why are these kids going to school hungry with no breakfast? Sometimes they don't eat anything at home.

Where's the welfare going? Food stamps? Etc? The parents aren't spending the money on their kids.

Child abuse. Plain and simple.

What kind of asshole would shame a kid for being too poor-
>Oklahoma
Ah, the pot of hatred where the soup of anger called the mid west flows into. Why is it that every red state pride themselves of being filled with heartless assholes?

>>137818
Why are you defending parents who abuse their kids?

If a child isn't eating food it's because the parents CHOOSE to let them go hungry. They have welfare. The have food stamps. There are food banks offering bags of free shit. Soup kitchens. All the parents have to do is feed their kids.

>>137818

Because they're retarded. They care more about fetuses than they do actual children. They're against abortion but want to force women to keep children they can't afford to take care off by cutting contraceptives out of their insurance coverage and other shit.

>>137821
Then shame the parents. The kids shouldn't be singled out, or teased

>>137828
They're not being shamed. I used to get a free lunch at school and nobody gave a crap. Lots of us got free lunches.

Fake news.

Its hard to come up with lunch money when the kids need cars,cell phones,$300 jeans and all the other little necessities of school life.....

>>137829
>not understanding the whole point
Sure is stupid around here.

>>137842
>It's complicated you need a college degree

This is the end of a liberal argument. Just acting like you know something I don't, it's real convincing. Not.