US School District Excludes Kids With Lunch Debt From Field Trips, Prom, And Other Activities

Oct 25, 2019 by apost team

Our country has a growing problem of children struggling to pay for lunches at school. Schools have faced severe criticism in recent months over the often-humiliating way they treat students who cannot pay for their lunches, and a district in New Jersey is adding to the uproar.

According to the Hill, the Cherry Hill school district passed a measure last Tuesday banning students with lunch debts from attending field trips, participating in extracurricular activities, and attending school dances, including prom.

The measure applies to students with debts of $75 or more and encompasses students in high school, middle school, and elementary school. High school students are further barred from joining the Senior Trip and cannot purchase a yearbook.

apost.com

Backlash against the measure was almost immediate in the community. During a school board meeting, teachers, parents, and students joined together to express their outrage at the district’s decision. Dr. Vibiana Cvetkovic, whose grandchildren attend school in Cherry Hill, called the measure “elitist” and said that it is based on the assumption that parents simply do not want to pay for their children’s lunches. Jacob Graff, who is a senior at Cherry Hill East High School, said that a parent’s inability to pay for lunches should not bar students from pursuing their dreams.

Like Jacob, many opponents of the measure point out that extracurricular activities are often deciding factors in students getting into their dream schools when applying for college.

In defense of the new policy, district superintendent Dr. Joseph Meloche said that officials arrived at the decision so that they did not have to start refusing lunches to students. Dr. Meloche added that the district is trying to behave with compassion while still dealing with the problem of mounting debt.

According to ABC News, the district currently has a debt of $14,343 in unpaid meal plans. Reports also indicate that the district has over 300 students with debts of $10 or more on their meal plans.

What do you think of how officials at Cherry Hill school district decided to ban students with lunch debt from participating in field trips, extracurricular activities, and school dances? How do you think school lunch debt should be handled?