I work as a lunch supervisor at my sons' school a few days a week. We usually keep some food, such as cereal, granola bars and fruit cups on hand in case a child forgets to bring a lunch, or if they eat their lunch and they are still hungry. We have a new pricipal this year, and last week she sent out an email to the lunch supervisors stating that we would no longer provide lunch to students who don't have lunch. Instead she will contact the parents etc. Anyway, I am disappointed about this, because it is unfair to the kids. Sure, parents need to take responsibility, but sometimes stuff happens, and it isn't fair to make a kid sit without food while the other kids are eating. Last year we had a family that just had a hard time making ends meet, and the kids never had enough to eat. We always gave them some cereal, rather than let them be hungry all day.
Well, today my seven year old forgets his lunch. I went shopping right after work at the Y. My husband was outside raking the lawn. The school called for an hour and a half before they got a hold of us, all the time my seven year old had not eaten. When I brought his lunch to school he had to miss class while he sat and ate in the office. I guess maybe he will learn his lesson from this, and he will make sure to take his lunch, although it was the first time he ever forgot it. And it's not usually a big deal if I have to bring a forgotten item to school, since I only work part time, and I am close by, but what about parents who are at work all day? Will they have to leave work to bring lunch?
There is no official policy on this matter. It just seemed like the right thing to do, feed a kid if they had no food. No one was purposely taking advantage of it. I don't really understand why the principal has a problem with it. Anyway, what do they do at your childs school if a child forgets lunch?
I agree. It’s typically not the child’s fault before HS. Our school usually has some leftover hot lunches from kids who were out sick (we order ahead of time) and I think granola bars etc in the office. So I think a child will get SOMETHING. It seems easy - the parents of any child that often doesn’t have a lunch get called and dealt with. Random one time events? Come on. No one’s perfect. If I were you I’d have to have a personal stash. I couldn’t watch a 7 year old go hungry.
I also teach in our district, only in the lower elementary level. When this happens, parents are notified but in the event they are not…my understanding is that the cafeteria will provide something.
In the past, with my classes, if for some reason a lunch us not delivered to the school for the child, I just have the child buy lunch on my account number so they don’t go hungry .
It’s not that much $$ and I know he/she got lunch. This doesn’t happen often but I keep my account prepared. I’ve seen other teachers do this as well.
If a child forgets their lunch and they have no lunch plan in place I suppose they beg from their friends like I did when I forgot my lunch.
If they have a lunch plan, in other words at some point in time they had cash on their lunch card, they are given lunch on credit. Having a lunch plan means you give your child permission to pick their food and would have already listed foods they are not allowed to have.
They cannot just give kids stuff because there is no parental permission. If they gave them a lunch and it was something the parents do not allow it opens up a can of worms.
I would take your experiences and speak to the principal. I would ask her why the policy change. I would remind her that there are a lot of working parents who are unable to leave the office for the kids’ lunch and there are also a lot of poor families who cannot afford a lunch. Ask her why the policy has changed and what happens if a parent doesn’t answer at all - you were at least able to get to the school after a while. If I worked my old job, I’d be 45 minutes away from my DD’s elementary school. She’d be stuck.
While I understand that the principal may not want to be handing out a lot of meals to kids who she may think need to learn a lesson, these are not high schoolers who can dig up some money for the snack machine. They are elementary aged kids. Further, is it really better to take a kid out of class whenever Mom and Dad can arrive?
In my SD’s school (the younger of the older ones) they were offered a very simple sandwich or a lunch on credit. She ate cold white bread and cheese when she forgot her lunch.
ETA: Here is one example of what a school does but notice that while you can keep getting charged, the child isn’t going hungry. AND they remind parents that they should consider applying for free/reduced lunches if providing lunch is a problem. http://www.columbia.k12.fl.us/foodservices/No%20Money.pdf
Google for “no lunch money” and you’ll see that many schools provide something for the child.
I could never let a child go hungry! Is this principle a parent? Sheesh!
My kids have Type 1 Diabetes, so if the school made them wait to eat until they got ahold of me, there would be hell to pay. Things get forgotten- it happens! They shouldn’t penalize a 7 year old for it.
Your comment about the family having a hard time making ends meet reminds me of an organization called Blessings in a Backpack that sends food home for kids to help them and their families to get them through the weekend. Our local schools also have scholarships for families who can’t pay for lunches so that every child has enough to eat.
I wish the principle had the same compassion as you do!
just another way that we are sanitizeng the humanity right out of our schools.
If you have a cafeteria do they provide a lunch? Ours does but only things like cheese sandwiches.
In one school I taught at, all the “leftovers” were placed in a “freebie for anyone” pan of ice. Each child on free lunch (95% of the school) was required to choose one fruit, one milk, one veg, one protein. Well some kids didn’t like apples, didn’t like oranges, or were lactose intolerant or just didn’t want their milk. The principal allowed the ice pan for children to place their unwanted/unopened milk or unwanted/unbitten apples and oranges. I had one student who DAILY went to grab an extra chocolate milk. He wanted two milks! Some days when the ice pan was filled, the kid would have 3 or 4 milks. But it was there for all in the cafeteria.
Another school I taught at, children were strictly not allowed to take apples/milks/unopened food out of the cafetria. Such a same. Shoulda seen all the fruit and milk tossed into the trashcan. (Field trips were GREAT days b/c all the leftovers were free for kids to take home to family or pets - lots of apples for horses, lots of carrot stick bags for families… Days the kids ate breakfast in the classroom were equally good. Not all wanted a bowl of self-serve cereal. I had a stash in my closet that over-flowed with cereal extras.
So - I guess that doesn’t answer your question entirely. I think the ice suggestion is an idea for your principal - sure milk isn’t a meal, but a milk and an apple is better than nothing. Perhaps you could also suggest that a box of crackers or whatever be on the back-to-school item list. Each teacher could keep a box or a few bags in their room for in case a kid forgets.
At our school, The kids are allowed to charge a lunch once and after that they have cheese sandwiches for those who forget. They also have a table where kids put unopened lunch items that they don’t want for those who are still hungry.
At my kids’ school you can put money on an account and the kids can punch in their student ID at the cafeteria to buy lunch. If a child forgets a lunch and does not have any money in his/her account they are offered a lunch (I’m not sure if it’s the same as everyone else, or just a basic sandwich or whatever) and sent home with a note saying something like “We provided lunch for your child today. Please put money on your child’s account so he/she can buy lunch in the future.” I personally think this is an excellent system. And it must be working b/c our school keeps doing it. I highly doubt there are any families out there who take advantage. Most people are too proud for that, even if they’re having trouble making ends meet. Maybe make a suggestion to start this kind of thing at your school?
Depriving a young child of nourishment will, in no way, teach them to be more diligent about remembering their lunch-it will teach them that adults are not reliable, loving and nurturing-and not to be respected or trusted or confided in. The principal would have more success moving a mountain a teaspoon at a time than accomplish what she wants to accomplish. When was the last time she did her job with no help or support? Yea-never.
There are a lot of things our school does wrong, but this they get right. When a child forgets lunch, they are given a hot lunch. The parents get billed, but if they cannot or do not pay, it is forgiven (I don’t know what would happen if it was a daily occurrence).
I can’t imagine making a child go all day without food.
If my son forgets his lunch then he takes hot lunch. I have an acct at the school and I make sure it is always in the positive.
I know kids have forgotten their lunch and didn’t have a positive acct (our school will NOT allow parents to be billed any longer) so they were given a sandwich and fruit and could go to the endless salad bar that is always available.
Our daughter forgot her lunch and they gave her a hot lunch which we had to pay for later. They have an online payment system, and we put extra money on her acct in case it happened again.
The child should be allowed to get the school lunch. A child should NOT be allowed to go hungry, especially if the parents can’t be reached or the parents can’t leave work to get lunch to them. I don’t even think the principal can enact such a rule… where we are, it’s simply not allowed. What your principal is doing would be considered illegal.
Our school allows 2-3 charges, sometimes more, once that’s reached they get a basic sack lunch. No one goes hungry. They also do something similar to the ‘free’ table. Mainly for the elementary kids since the older kids get bar and can go back for more.
I would be getting a group of parents together and asking about the policy. Doesn’t sound very fair to me.
I do not think anyone should go hungry. My daughter has forgotten her lunch a few times here and there. Everyone is busy with work or looking for work or trying to get by. And like that other lady where her kid was getting bullied and some kid stole her lunch. When my daughter was in public school she would get a free pass and get food and the second time cheese sandwhich. We ended up though putting 5 dollars on her account but they never made her go hungry. They did put notes to take home after the second incident which is when we found out. In her private school they gave peanut butter sandwhiches. The private montissori its even nicer the kids help out each other when they forget food. Not like in public where they can’t share food. Her father has gotten in the habit of packing a lot of food because everyone was kind and shared with her she would share her lunch when her friends forgot it..
The school gives us a call to see if we want to run one down and then they provide a hot lunch if we can’t make it over to the school. It is expected that we pay it back of course. If they can’t get in touch with us, they automatically provide the kids a lunch at their designated lunch time.
How can they make a kid sit at lunch without anything. Things happen in life. Someone forgets something. In our school district, they will get a hot lunch and money is expected to pay back. If there are extenuating circumstances, no repayment expected. It is the right thing to do.