In late October, Xavier, a first grader attending Snohomish, Washington’s, Cascade View Elementary was handed a slip indicative of a negative balance, instead of the nutritious sack meal that every student receives at lunch time.
As the lunch lady handed the boy his slip, Xavier was told “Guess what, you can’t have a lunch.” Father Eric claims that Xavier is enrolled in free lunch, thus negating the issue of worrying about a balance. A representative for the school stated that should a child’s account reach -$20.00 or less, the student is entitled to a drink, cheese sandwich, and salad.
Eric is so incensed by the whole kerfuffle that he is seriously looking into extracting his children from the school. Eric stated that he never received an explanation in his attempts to get an answer to the denied sustenance. Whether this incident is due to red tape, a mix-up of accounts, or some other reason, Xavier’s situation is hardly an isolated incident.
Back in June, one middle school student was denied any sort of access to lunch for coming 26 cents short on his lunch card. February saw an Iowa middle school student being denied a meal due to her parents not receiving a notice of a low balance.
This sort of situation has generated some short-term solutions, such as one mother whom not only paid up on her son’s lapsed balance, but also the lapses of every other child in order protect other children from her son’s shame.