A high school in Indiana has received flak for its school lunch policy. Students who have incurred a $25 debt on their school lunch card are given a special meal. The alternative meal has been labeled "shame sandwiches."
Several students from Kokomo High School in Indiana have seen some of their schoolmates being given the shame sandwich instead of the usual food tray. "If you owe $25 or more on your lunch account, this is what Kokomo High School provides you for lunch. Two slices of bread and two slices of cheese. Absolutely mortifying. My heart goes out to the kids that I go to school with that get their only meal a day at school," high school student Siera Feitl said in a Facebook post.
If you owe $25 or more on your lunch account, this is what Kokomo High School provides you for lunch. Two slices of...
Posted by Sierra Feitl on Tuesday, January 5, 2016
The families were supposedly notified of the new school policy before school break last year, and the school district has apparently apologized for the offense, according to "Today."
The school thought that putting the policy in place would reduce the number of students with school lunch debts, even as only 10 percent of its students belong to low-income families.
Also read - School Lunches: Study Finds Rules For Healthier Meals Effective
"Some of these people on the list, I'm sorry, are making $100,000 a year," said the school district's communications director David Barnes, according to Fox 8. "I'm sorry, those people need to pay their bills."
In the meantime, Kokomo High School has suspended giving shame sandwiches to students until February, and some parents have started paying the money owed to the school.
"What we're doing now is we're making some personal phone calls. We're sending some additional letters. We're also asking our principals to meet with their affected students," said Barnes via Kokomo Perspective. "We thank the families that are being responsible and are paying their debt, but even more so, we thank the families who have paid their lunch fees on a regular basis."
"Many in the community have been very patient as they sought to understand why we are doing what we're doing, and I appreciate the parents who have made an effort to help us reduce our debt," Kokomo School Corp. Superintendent Jeff Haulswald said in the same report. "We've reduced our debt by approximately $20,000 in four days, and we already have reduced the number of students who had account debt over $25 by almost 30 percent."
