The Blaine County school board unanimously scrapped a controversial clause in its school lunch policy that would have district administrators contact the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare’s child protective services if parents were delinquent on their student’s bill.
In September, Communications Director Heather Crocker said the district never took that step, which the firm MBST Law included in the most recent draft of the policy written during 2016.
But the language’s inclusion in an email to parents prior to the school year raised alarm—and prompted the district’s policy committee to clarify its stance. So, it recommended striking a phrase authorizing a building principal to contact Department of Health and Welfare if an overdue statement goes five days without an attempt to pay it.
“The statement … has caused confusion and fear among some parents,” the committee wrote in its recommendation. “Removing this statement makes it clear that this is not a practice of the District.”
The district will still contact child protective services if it believes a student is at risk—that just won’t happen in the context of its food service policies.
“I want to reiterate that this policy was updated three years ago, but circumstances were different then,” Superintendent GwenCarol Holmes said during a school board meeting Tuesday. “The phrase we’re removing caused a lot of panic.”
The edit does not change the district’s policy toward collecting unpaid tabs. Parents are notified when an account goes negative. After the school year, those balances are turned over to an outside agency for collection. Each year, the students accrue between $15,000 and $22,000 in unpaid school food debt, according to District Finance Manager Bryan Fletcher.
Students won’t be turned away from the lunch line for an outstanding bill, Holmes told parents and staff in September. Social workers are usually the first to reach out to parents when concerns over payment arise, Crocker said.
Their first preference is to enroll a student in the free and reduced-price program. To do it, parents apply by reporting their income to the district’s free and reduced determining official—in Blaine County, that’s Administrative Assistant Karen Hoffman—who evaluates eligibility. The income limits vary by the size of the household applying. In 2019, a kid in a family of four earning less than $47,638 annually qualifies for reduced meal prices—between 30 and 40 cents—while those earning less than $33,475 get them free.
Here, that’s not the only option. If financial circumstances change dramatically, or the federal program isn’t an option, social workers can tap the “farmers market fund” to pay for meals. Fletcher doesn’t know why it’s called that—it only pays for cafeteria meals. But, outside the families and their social worker, it is completely anonymous; not even the administration knows who’s using it, Holmes said.
The farmers market fund uses some district money, Fletcher said, but it relies on private donations to stay afloat.
“We have enjoyed some kind donations from folks over the years,” he said.
Post a comment as
Report
Watch this discussion.
(2) comments
Please, END the insanity of the school provided paid lunch program! I understand that the company that provides it will be upset but everyone else will be relieved and the problem will be solved. The amount of money and time it costs to administrate this program is a waste of our taxpayers funds. If a parent cannot afford to pack a lunch for their child to take to school, then their problems are greater than a "paid lunch program" at school can solve and Idaho Department of Health and Welfare’s child protective services should be brought in to investigate and perhaps educate. There are many non-profit and charitable organizations that could be enlisted to provide lunches to those students whose families meet a certain criteria for poverty. And perhaps the more affluent families at the school could supply an "extra packed lunch" with their child's to augment those whose family can't afford to send their child to school with a lunch.
Students - WIN, Parents - WIN, Taxpayers - WIN, School - WIN .... Company that profits off of the chaos - LOSE!
Do you know that it's the school that profits from the paid school lunches? What non profits do you suggest to provide free school lunches to hundreds of kids for 176 days a year? Why would you call CPS if a parent can't afford to send a lunch to school with their kid? What will happen to all the kids that would be removed from their homes? Who would take all those kids? If they are put into foster care the more money will be spent to pay the foster families. If food programs were cut from school the state would lower the income requirement to receive food stamps. That way families could use food stamps to get their kids lunches. That means higher state taxes. I know a few teachers who's kids receive free school lunches because they qualify. By cutting the lunch program kids will go without hot healthy meals, the school will lose money so that means programs and employees will be cut out, the people that make the lunches will lose their jobs, and county taxes will go up to replace some of the funds lost by cutting the food program. I think you might want to rethink that statement. Your way means Students go with food or are taken from their parents = lose Parents lose their kids and possibly their jobs= lose Tax payers taxes will go up to pay for lost funds= lose The company that the school pays will lose money but not as much as the school will = company moves on. They won't lose anything except a client.
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In