On May 5th, a Rhode Island school district announced that students who have overdue lunch fees will not be allowed to choose from the cafeteria's hot meals- they will only be allowed to have "sun butter and jelly" sandwiches. This was supposed to go into effect today (May 13th), but there was so much outrage on social media that the district decided not to. Apparently a lot of the students with debts are not enrolled in the National School Lunch Program. Nationwide districts are trying to figure out ways to handle these debts, especially with mounting controversy over "lunch shaming" policies. In the meantime, Chobani founder donated over $47,000, and gofundme pages have raised $40,000 to pay off the district's debts.
Everyone deserves to not worry about their meals. That's why LBJ introduced the Food Stamp Act of 1964 during the War on Poverty. I know that these students are getting food, but everyone seems to agree that they don't deserve to be shamed. Luckily, the district is coming up with plans to get the bills paid without the shaming. I'm proud that as a nation we collectively argued against unfair policies and managed to make a difference.
https://www.npr.org/2019/05/10/722259141/after-backlash-rhode-island-school-district-rolls-back-lunch-shaming-policy
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