Ideally, school is supposed to be a safe place, in which children from all walks of life are given what they need to learn and grow into adults.
Unfortunately, a lot of society’s prejudices bleed into its institutions, and those on the intersections of race, sexuality, and socioeconomic status often face micro-aggressions at school that reflect the problematic views of those outside of it.
School lunch programs are incredibly important.
It’s important that every child gets the opportunity to approach learning in the same way, which can’t happen if they aren’t all properly fed.
There are children whose families can’t afford that.
Programs like breakfast clubs and subsidized lunches ensure that children who may not have access to three meals a day at home are still taken care of.
Lunch programs have gotten quite a bit of controversy lately.
Most public school cafeterias have tabs that parents can put a lump sum of money onto, with which their kids can gradually buy lunches through the year.
But this doesn’t work for all families.
In recent months, a lot of stories have emerged regarding lunch workers getting fired for feeding students who owed money. Logically, the welfare of the child should come first, but some people disagree.
One student went to go get her lunch as per usual, and was told that there was only 10 cents left on her account.
Six-year-old Anya attends school in the Greenwood Community Schools district, where it is customary to warn students when their lunch tab dips below five dollars. However, Anya did not receive a warning until her account reached ten cents.
She did not have enough to cover a hot lunch, which costs $2.25.
Normally, students in the district receive two hot meals before they are given an alternate meal, but Anya was told that she would simply have to eat a peanut butter sandwich.
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Anya was forced to walk to the back of the line in front of all her classmates.
“They were laughing at us,” Anya said. The ordeal was allegedly “not handled with any discretion.”
Now, Anya’s grandfather Dwight Howard is speaking out against the school board.
Howard was extremely displeased with the school’s handling of the situation.
“They waited until there was a dime left, denied her the opportunity to eat the lunch that she had been served and tried to pay for,” he explained.
“That’s embarrassing for a little 6-year-old.”
“When she was talking to me about it, she was more than sad,” Howard went on, “She had to go to the end of the line in front of all her friends to wait for a PB&J.”
The school district has not commented on the family’s complaint.
However, they have released a new statement regarding their lunch tab policy:
“Starting Monday we are no longer allowing any Café accounts to go into the negative,” the note reads.
The statement continued.
“If there is not enough money in your child’s account to cover the entire meal, they will be receiving a peanut butter sandwich and a milk.”
h/t: WISH-TV
