The Keene School District's policy on withholding school lunches is raising concerns among anti-hunger advocates and at least local one parent.
The district's policy says middle and high schools can withhold food from students whose meal accounts are $20 or more in debt. At the elementary level, the district says students with a negative balance of $25 or more can choose an option “from the sandwich choices available.”
“Our state unfortunately, I wish it did, doesn’t offer free lunch to everybody,” said Tim Ruehr, Keene School District’s chief financial officer. “So it’s a service that you have to pay for.”
Ruehr confirmed that it is district policy to withhold meals for middle and high school students whose unpaid meal balances exceed $25.
He said this policy encourages parents to pay off lunch debt before it grows too large. And overall, he said the Keene School District doesn’t have as big a problem with school lunch debt as other districts.
Reuhr said the school has a rolling balance of around $2,000 dollars of school meal debt.
Jason Washer, whose three children attend Keene schools, has been raising concerns about the policy.
Washer said he learned about the policy last spring, when one of his children was transitioning from elementary school to middle school. The district sent a letter to parents explaining that students’ negative lunch balances would carry over into middle school, and explained the policy for withholding lunches if the negative balance exceeds $20.
“If they have a balance due of $(20.00) or more, they will not be allowed to make ANY purchases including breakfast or lunch unless they have cash in hand that day to pay for the regular meal,” the letter read, according to a copy Washer shared with NHPR.
Washer said his family wasn't directly affected by the policy, but he was concerned about the impact on others.
“It struck me the wrong way that we wouldn't be feeding kids in our schools,” Washer said. “They withhold meals from them.”
When Washer took it up with the school board, questioning if it was legal, he said he was told they would look into it. Ultimately, he said, he was told that the policy was legal. Ruehr, the district’s chief financial officer, also told NHPR he believe’s Keene’s policy meets state standards.
But Washer disagrees. He pointed to a state law governing food and nutrition programs, which says "no student will be subject to different treatment from the standard school lunch meal or school cafeteria procedures.” In a memo to districts earlier this year, the Department of Education also said schools need to ensure all students have access to a healthy school lunch and to ensure that all students receive equal treatment in the lunchroom.
In Washer’s view, Keene’s approach goes against this requirement.
“So sandwiches should not be given to the elementary kids instead of the healthier hot lunch,” Washer said. “The sandwiches, and the withholding of food from the older kids, is intended to shame the children so that their parents will pay their debts. There must be a better and more humane way to do this.”
When asked about Washer’s concerns, Ruehr said the Keene School District is doing more than what the law requires. He said based on his interpretation the law doesn’t, for example, require schools to allow students to accumulate negative school meal balances. And he said the bigger issue is the lack of state support for school meals.
“We don’t provide free lunch to everybody,” Ruehr said. “We want to but that’s not what this state is. You pay as you go, and we’re required to charge for those that don’t qualify for free and reduced.”
Laura Milliken, director of New Hampshire Hunger Solutions, said Keene’s approach isn’t the best means of getting parents to ensure their students’ lunch accounts are up to date.
“I think it's not consistent with the law that says that they're not supposed to treat children differently based on debt,” Milliken said. “But even if it isn't illegal, it doesn't seem like a good decision for a school to make, to ever deny kids food.”
Milliken said she wants to see more focus on solutions that “both help the school be solvent and feed Children so that they can learn in school.” Her organization has been working to change state law so that children who are signed up for Medicaid automatically enrolled in free and reduced lunch. She said it could spare parents additional forms to fill out. But lawmakers have so far rejected efforts to implement that change.
And even if the Medicaid certification program were implemented, Milliken said it wouldn’t solve the issue for kids whose families are above the income level for free and reduced lunch, so it’s important for the state to look into other policies that can get all kids fed.
“Ultimately, I think it doesn't make sense to have a multi-tiered system that stigmatizes some kids and doesn't allow others to eat,” she said.
