Lunch shaming at school needs to stop

The story of children being shamed over school lunches by a Rhode Island school district grabbed headlines earlier this month. People across the country were horrified to learn that children whose families were behind on their school lunch charges would be given an alternative lunch — a nut butter and jelly sandwich, with the entire cafeteria watching.

Shaming children for the actions — or inaction — of adults has never been a favorite punishment of ours. But it’s hardly rare across the country, except in states such as New Mexico, which have banned lunch shaming at school.

Proudly, New Mexico was the first state in the nation to pass such a law, the HungerFree Students’ Bill of Rights, in 2017. Several states have followed, but the prohibition against shaming children over lunch debt is not a national standard. It should be. That will take an act of Congress. With a national law, children no longer will be singled out in lunch lines, either because parents didn’t

send money or, more commonly, because families lack funds to pay for lunches.

Rhode Island’s substitution of a sandwich for a hot meal is one approach, while other districts have made kids do chores to pay back the lunch debt. In Alabama, a child was stamped on the arm with, “I Need Lunch Money.” Some districts require cafeteria workers to throw a hot lunch away if the child can’t pay.

This year in Minnesota, students who owed money in the cafeteria were going to be prevented from graduating. The mother of Philando Castile — a 32-year-old cafeteria worker fatally shot by police during a 2016 traffic stop — used his foundations to pay their bills. In the case of the Rhode Island district, a Twitter campaign raised money for the unpaid debt and the Chobani yogurt company also donated; we live in a GoFundMe world, where publicity brings in the bucks. That should be unnecessary. The Anti-Lunch Shaming Act of 2019 — New Mexico U.S. Sen. Tom Udall and Rep. Deb Haaland are sponsors — would stop stigmatizing children who can’t pay for meals at school. Schools would deal with parents if lunch accounts are behind, not discuss the matter with children. Schools also would be directed to do more to ensure all children who are eligible are signed up for free or reduced meals. The legislation also directs districts to use better technology to improve communication.

Making the law uniform across the country is logical. The school lunch program is run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, whose regulations require school districts seek payment for unpaid balances. Districts also are not allowed to use federal funds to pay down student debt in the cafeteria.

Most school districts across the country, however, are wise enough to avoid identifying children who have lunch debts. Instead, the schools have online payment programs, they contact parents over unpaid balances and collect charitable donations to help reduce unpaid debt. A spokesman for Santa Fe Public Schools said the district’s unpaid balance is around $16,000, should anyone want to help out.

The key to preventing debt in the lunch line is for schools to sign up all eligible children for federal meal programs. That was an important part of the New Mexico legislation. Ideally, lunch at school would be free for all, removing the cumbersome paperwork and destigmatizing poverty. Cities such as New York and Dallas have expanded their lunch programs for everyone; that’s because a large enough percentage of the student body qualifies for assistance. The expansion comes through the Community Eligibility Provision, a part of the 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. Some 4,500 districts nationwide take part, but that’s only about half of those eligible, according to the USDA.

With hunger a real fact of life — breakfast and lunch at school often are the only hot meals children receive — it’s important to make sure children aren’t penalized because of adult actions. Pass a federal law: Stop the shaming.