Lunches seized from kids in debt at Salt Lake City elementary

[Michele]

Education » School officials cite unpaid balances on students’ meal accounts.

By Lisa Schencker | The Salt Lake Tribune
First Published Jan 29 2014 05:29 pm • Last Updated Jan 29 2014 11:06 pm


Up to 40 kids at Uintah Elementary in Salt Lake City picked up their lunches Tuesday, then watched as the meals were taken and thrown away because of outstanding balances on their accounts — a move that shocked and angered parents.

"It was pretty traumatic and humiliating," said Erica Lukes, whose 11-year-old daughter had her cafeteria lunch taken from her as she stood in line Tuesday at Uintah Elementary School, 1571 E. 1300 South.

Lukes said as far as she knew, she was all paid up. "I think it’s despicable," she said. "These are young children that shouldn’t be punished or humiliated for something the parents obviously need to clear up."

Jason Olsen, a Salt Lake City District spokesman, said the district’s child-nutrition department became aware that Uintah had a large number of students who owed money for lunches.

As a result, the child-nutrition manager visited the school and decided to withhold lunches to deal with the issue, he said.

But cafeteria workers weren’t able to see which children owed money until they had already received lunches, Olsen explained.

The workers then took those lunches from the students and threw them away, he said, because once food is served to one student it can’t be served to another.

Children whose lunches were taken were given milk and fruit instead.


More at Link

[phillygirl]

Oh. My. God. Ridiculous. I'm all in favor of collecting the money from the dead beat parents. Humiliating 11 year olds is not the way to go. And then throwing the lunches away? Yeah, how many different ways can you screw up this issue?

[scott]

This is the brutal reality of bureaucrats. The policy says they can't have the lunch but can't serve it to someone else so instead of being effective they decide to be wasteful.

Obamacare is going through the same thing.

[Gingersnap]

Why wasn't there a way to just add the charge to the dead-beat parents' bills? I get that the school needs to be paid for hot lunches but there has to be a better way than this.

[scott]

Why wasn't there a way to just add the charge to the dead-beat parents' bills? I get that the school needs to be paid for hot lunches but there has to be a better way than this.

Why wasn't there a way to identify those with overdue accounts before serving them the food?

[Gingersnap]

Why wasn't there a way to identify those with overdue accounts before serving them the food?

I thought that the school had sent letters or messages or both to the parents. Some parents are saying they didn't get the letters. I don't know what the deal really is with this. Schools have had these card systems for years - surely somebody has solved the faking-no-notification thing by now.

[scott]

I thought that the school had sent letters or messages or both to the parents. Some parents are saying they didn't get the letters. I don't know what the deal really is with this. Schools have had these card systems for years - surely somebody has solved the faking-no-notification thing by now.

I mean before they passed out the meals that they took away?

[Gingersnap]

I mean before they passed out the meals that they took away?

Well, that's it. There has to be some way of addressing this before the kid is involved.

[phillygirl]

Easy peasy...quarterly settle it up...no pay, no report card. No report card, no going to the next grade. Batch small claims court filings before the end of the year. This is not difficult.

If you can't afford the lunch, there is most certainly a government program for you.

[scott]

Easy peasy...quarterly settle it up...no pay, no report card. No report card, no going to the next grade. Batch small claims court filings before the end of the year. This is not difficult.

If you can't afford the lunch, there is most certainly a government program for you.

I think this is the problem, some people don't necessarily care that much about their kids moving onto the next grade. Because of that, we have the system that can be easily gamed and this is just retribution against people not on government aid but are still freeloading.


It's like the bureaucrats that will send licensed agents out to the homes of Medicare/Medicaid beneficiaries to enroll them in health insurance plans (and now they are encouraging the same for Obamacare subsidy folks) but make it hard for middle and upper middle class people to just determine their qualification status.


This is a new thing and it's anecdotal, but some leading indicators are apparent. Here's my off the cuff grouping of clients by easiest to hardest to acquire an insurance policy that is compliant with Affordable Care Act:

1. Dual-eligible (eligible for Medicare and Medicaid) in a Medicare Advantage Plan
2. Medicaid only in a share of cost plan
3. 100-133% of the FPL federally subsidized plan
4. Full payment made by consumer, plan has "Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Platinum" in the title (assuming a reputable company and the plan is listed in a proprietary list at HHS).
5. Corporate plan (non SHOP) certified by the CFO of the company and the provider
6. Over 133% of the FPL federally subsidized plan
7. SHOP applicants
8. Catastrophic plans available to those under 30
9. 135%-400% FPL federally subsidized plans (the qualification is the hard part, not the application of the subsidies)
10. The actual working poor, those making below poverty wages (but have jobs) and do not qualify for Medicaid because Medicaid is not based on income alone.


This program was designed to fail and punish people.


Just like the free lunches being given and then seized.

[Adam]

Wow. What spectacular stupidity.

Presumably, since these were parents owing a balance, this wasn't the free lunch program, but instead some system by which parents establish some sort of revolving account for the kids' lunches. I can think of about a thousand different ways to handle this situation better than passing out food, knowing that it can't be taken back, and then throwing that food into a trash can.


Damn. Sounds like there probably needs to be some firings over this.

[Lanie]

Education » School officials cite unpaid balances on students’ meal accounts.

By Lisa Schencker | The Salt Lake Tribune
First Published Jan 29 2014 05:29 pm • Last Updated Jan 29 2014 11:06 pm


Up to 40 kids at Uintah Elementary in Salt Lake City picked up their lunches Tuesday, then watched as the meals were taken and thrown away because of outstanding balances on their accounts — a move that shocked and angered parents.

"It was pretty traumatic and humiliating," said Erica Lukes, whose 11-year-old daughter had her cafeteria lunch taken from her as she stood in line Tuesday at Uintah Elementary School, 1571 E. 1300 South.

Lukes said as far as she knew, she was all paid up. "I think it’s despicable," she said. "These are young children that shouldn’t be punished or humiliated for something the parents obviously need to clear up."

Jason Olsen, a Salt Lake City District spokesman, said the district’s child-nutrition department became aware that Uintah had a large number of students who owed money for lunches.

As a result, the child-nutrition manager visited the school and decided to withhold lunches to deal with the issue, he said.

But cafeteria workers weren’t able to see which children owed money until they had already received lunches, Olsen explained.

The workers then took those lunches from the students and threw them away, he said, because once food is served to one student it can’t be served to another.

Children whose lunches were taken were given milk and fruit instead.


More at Link

Once the food is served, it might as well stay served. They were being jerks and should have taken things up directly with their parents.

[Lanie]

I thought that the school had sent letters or messages or both to the parents. Some parents are saying they didn't get the letters. I don't know what the deal really is with this. Schools have had these card systems for years - surely somebody has solved the faking-no-notification thing by now.

In theory, under the new system, the student ID number should have shown up with the balance due.

[Lanie]

Easy peasy...quarterly settle it up...no pay, no report card. No report card, no going to the next grade. Batch small claims court filings before the end of the year. This is not difficult.

If you can't afford the lunch, there is most certainly a government program for you.

That sounds mean and unfair to the kid, but you might be right. People who actually do have the money often find a way to pull it out their butt when backed up against the wall. If they think their kids won't go to the next grade, a lot of them will work to get the money up.

A lot of schools won't let a student have their diploma or degree before everything is paid up, so this might work.

[phillygirl]

That sounds mean and unfair to the kid, but you might be right. People who actually do have the money often find a way to pull it out their butt when backed up against the wall. If they think their kids won't go to the next grade, a lot of them will work to get the money up.

A lot of schools won't let a student have their diploma or degree before everything is paid up, so this might work.

Yep. And I'm not suggesting it for the families that don't have the money (although I really wonder why we are insistent that schools must provide the lunches...Catholic schools frequently do not and the kids manage to bring a sandwich from home).

But certainly handing out the lunch and then taking it away and throwing it away, then giving more food to the kid is possibly the worst possible way to handle the problem.