I want to thank community members for the generous outpouring you showed in support of our school children. Together, we raised $860 to support Miller Middle School kids with negative lunch balances.
Those whose parents owed $8 or more were to be given partial meals unless their accounts were paid off, and you did it in less than a week! That awful sign at Miller, shaming kids with negative lunch balances, was taken down; and thanks to you, not one child had to suffer the embarrassment of being handed a cheese stick or a granola bar instead of the full meals they need and deserve. You guys rock!
Giving children partial or alternative meals is a practice that falls under the definition of lunch shaming. The USDA recommends dealing directly with parents and caregivers to recover funds for negative lunch balances. It is unethical and unwise to use children as pawns in a game they have no control over. In fact, this practice is outlawed in 10 states and bills are pending in four others. I have sent letters to our local representatives Rep. Barbara McLachlan and Sen. Don Coram encouraging them to sponsor a bill similar to New Mexico’s Hunger-Free Students’ Bill of Rights Act, and I urge you to do the same.
Bayfield School District is a local leader in this regard. They do not withhold food from children for money their parents owe. Bayfield’s meal charging policy states: “Because hunger is an impediment to learning, no child shall be denied a school meal due to an inability to pay.” Bravo, Bayfield!
Besides fundraising and writing to our representatives, I have done more research on lunch policy and lunch shaming than anyone should care to admit. I spoke at a 9-R board meeting and sent a list of lunch policy suggestions to review at its next work session. I also met with 9-R Superintendent Dan Snowberger to relay my concerns. It seems the only thing we all agree on is that the sign at Miller was a bad decision, but, alas, our reasons differ. They said the sign itself was a violation of a district policy about signs, while my issue was with the message on the sign.
At the board’s May work session, it decided 9-R’s lunch policy, which includes lunch shaming practices, is fine as it is. After my meeting with Snowberger, he put me in contact with the Durango Education Foundation to set up a permanent donation fund so that community members can donate anytime to help cover negative lunch balances. This is a nice sentiment but is still just a Band-Aid on the wound.
The board and Snowberger have paid lip service to this important issue but have done nothing to address the root cause. This is unacceptable and I will not be satisfied until lunch shaming and partial meals are a blur in our rearview mirror. I can only hope that their hearts and minds will grow to meet those of our local community. You have all proven that it does take a village, and this is one village that I’m proud to call home.
Robyn Baxendale is a former educator in the 9-R school district. She lives in Durango.
