School lunch policies vary
School lunch policies became a national topic of conversation in September after a Washington County food worker said she resigned over a district practice.
Stacy Koltiska said she quit her job as a lunch lady at Wylandville Elementary School because she had to take away a first-grade boy’s hot chicken nugget lunch and give him a cold cheese sandwich because his lunch account was $25 or more in debt to the school.
Canon-McMillan School District officials said before their policy was adopted, more than 300 families had lunch account deficits totaling nearly $100,000. After the policy was implemented, the number had fallen to fewer than 70 families.
The district maintains the incident didn’t occur as Koltiska said, but the school board on Oct. 20 changed the lunch policy for clarification purposes. The revision includes more alternative lunch options and allows more students to purchase those alternatives.
Canon-McMillan’s new policy allows students in kindergarten through eighth grade to charge an alternate lunch after their cafeteria account is overdrawn by $25.
Students in grades nine through 12 are not able to charge additional lunches.
Canon-McMillan said it adopted the policy recommended by the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA). The PSBA’s school meal account policy states only that the superintendent or designee should develop procedures to control school meal accounts, including a method of notification when the student’s account reaches a specified level. They recommend at least one advance-written warning be given when the account reaches a determined level. The policy states that districts should have a procedure for providing students with meals when the account has insufficient funds.
PSBA is an advisory group with no regulatory oversight, and its suggested policies can be amended by districts, leaving a vast array of options for handling delinquent accounts.
Matthew Triffanoff, food service director at California Area schools, said he understands confusion over school lunch policies. “It’s a little more complicated than it used to be.”
Policies were once fairly straightforward. Now, there are options, add-ons and accounts.
He said his district’s policy works well for students.
“We really don’t have any issues here,” said Triffanoff.
All students can charge as many as three lunches. Once they’ve exceeded three lunches, they are given an alternate “cold meal” that complies with nutritional guidelines.
In cases where parents and guardians have financial difficulties, the district works with them to set up payment plans.
“We really try to help parents out as much as possible,” Triffanoff said. “The main focus is to feed the kids and make sure they’re ready to go for school.”
Accounts vary from district to district, but the nutrition provided by schools is the same across the board.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, school lunches must meet meal pattern and nutrition standards based on the latest dietary guidelines, which have increased the availability of fruits, vegetables and whole grains on the menu. Specific calorie limits are implemented for age groups. While lunches must meet federal meal requirements, decisions about what foods are served and how to prepare them are decided by the district.
Students and parents in Washington School District don’t have to worry about paying for lunch. Starting in the 2015-16 school year, all 1,500 students in the district receive free breakfast and lunch as part of the Community Eligibility Provision from the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. The provision allows schools with high poverty rates to provide free meals to all students.
Most districts’ delinquent funds lunch policies do not apply to students who receive federal free or reduced-cost meals.