School systems are going CRAZY

This makes no sense, throw perfectly good food away and then give the little kids fruit and milk because the parents hadn't paid the bill. A simple solution is to have students pay BEFORE getting a lunch....

"Utah cafeteria workers take lunches from students who owed money on their school food accounts"

SALT LAKE CITY – Parents say about 50 elementary students in Salt Lake City had their school lunches thrown out because money was owed on their food accounts.

The lunches costing about $3 were taken from the children on Tuesday as they arrived at a pay station after cafeteria workers had given them the food.

Parent Erica Lukes said the action was humiliating and demoralizing for students.

The Salt Lake City School District said the move came after it realized a lot of students at Uintah (Yoo-IN-tah) Elementary owed money for previous lunches.

District spokesman Jason Olsen said cafeteria servers were not able to see who was in debt until lunches had already been given to students in line.

He said the lunches were thrown out because they couldn't be served to another student. Students whose lunches were taken away were given fruit and milk."

nochain wrote:

This makes no sense, throw perfectly good food away and then give the little kids fruit and milk because the parents hadn't paid the bill. A simple solution is to have students pay BEFORE getting a lunch....

"Utah cafeteria workers take lunches from students who owed money on their school food accounts"

SALT LAKE CITY –  Parents say about 50 elementary students in Salt Lake City had their school lunches thrown out because money was owed on their food accounts.

The lunches costing about $3 were taken from the children on Tuesday as they arrived at a pay station after cafeteria workers had given them the food.

Parent Erica Lukes said the action was humiliating and demoralizing for students.

The Salt Lake City School District said the move came after it realized a lot of students at Uintah (Yoo-IN-tah) Elementary owed money for previous lunches.

District spokesman Jason Olsen said cafeteria servers were not able to see who was in debt until lunches had already been given to students in line.

He said the lunches were thrown out because they couldn't be served to another student. Students whose lunches were taken away were given fruit and milk."

ELEMENTARY students!!!...To treat the little kids like that is not just humiliating/demoralizing it's just plain wrong...Another example of parents being the problem...If there are needy families there are programs for free or reduced breakfasts and lunches....but punishing the innocent is beyond comprehension....

Move the cash register to the front of the line... DUH!

That would work if all the lunches were the same.

nochain wrote:

This makes no sense, throw perfectly good food away and then give the little kids fruit and milk because the parents hadn't paid the bill. A simple solution is to have students pay BEFORE getting a lunch....

"Utah cafeteria workers take lunches from students who owed money on their school food accounts"

SALT LAKE CITY –  Parents say about 50 elementary students in Salt Lake City had their school lunches thrown out because money was owed on their food accounts.

The lunches costing about $3 were taken from the children on Tuesday as they arrived at a pay station after cafeteria workers had given them the food.

Parent Erica Lukes said the action was humiliating and demoralizing for students.

The Salt Lake City School District said the move came after it realized a lot of students at Uintah (Yoo-IN-tah) Elementary owed money for previous lunches.

District spokesman Jason Olsen said cafeteria servers were not able to see who was in debt until lunches had already been given to students in line.

He said the lunches were thrown out because they couldn't be served to another student. Students whose lunches were taken away were given fruit and milk."

The school district has apologized and said this was handled wrong and would not be repeated...In the Salt Lake paper there were 14456 comments to this story...no one sided in any way with the district...that may have had something to do with the apology....

When I was a teacher, there were always a few accounts that were waaaay overdrawn for every reason in the book. Once, my son decided to be Mr. Big Man and buy all his buddies chips and desserts before I was sent a bill for a $50 overage. :roll:Needless to say, that did not go over well.

Dragging children into an adults' battle over money…and then taking food from them…is probably going to mean someone is going to end up losing their job…and they'll end up having to work…

…in a school cafeteria somewhere.

BTW, how come airline pilots make six figures and bus drivers make paltry wages...

The parents should ensure the money is in the account and the school should alert the parents when the balance is getting low..

Supposedly, the parents were notified.

I read this morning that the children were seated at the table when the staff reluctantly took up their trays. One teacher rushed down and paid for 10 or so kids, but didn't have the money to pay for all of them (40?).

Whatever the cause, there is NO reason the balance can't be on the students report cards.. It would just be 1 more block. If the parents don't pay, let the students work at cleaning floors, picking up trash, and TELL the affected students WHY.. I know there will always be an excuse or reason why the kids can't do such low life manual labor that might embarrass them, but the PARENTS are responsible....

No, Jake…let the PARENTS work at picking up the trash, cleaning the floors…

SheSurfs wrote:

No, Jake…let the PARENTS work at picking up the trash, cleaning the floors…

I have to agree.

SheSurfs wrote:

When I was a teacher, there were always a few accounts that were waaaay overdrawn for every reason in the book. Once, my son decided to be Mr. Big Man and buy all his buddies chips and desserts before I was sent a bill for a $50 overage. :roll:Needless to say, that did not go over well.

Dragging children into an adults' battle over money…and then taking food from them…is probably going to mean someone is going to end up losing their job…and they'll end up having to work…

…in a school cafeteria somewhere.

BTW, how come airline pilots make six figures and bus drivers make paltry wages...

Pilots salaries are not as high as they should be. You'd be amazed that there are people out there flying who make only about 45K per year. Of course, military pilots make more.
Bus drivers wages aren't as low as you think. Most of them make around twice the minimum wage.

Check out the statistics.

Starting out, the pay is indeed low (many as low as $20K actually) with most pilots taking an income dip after leaving the military. Even weathering slow captain upgrades after 2008, captain pay is still very high, with the averages still putting them ahead of many professional career paths. Benefits are excellent from day one. There is also an opportunity to make one's way up as a civilian which in the end defies the ratios of education to total career pay.

Bus drivers, like their professional colleagues - teachers are still grossly underpaid in this area for what they do. I am a big believer in hazardous duty pay for both in some situations.

Love you pup, Otter. Best dog I ever had was a German shorthair.

My family was lucky. Dad was a senior TWA pilot, flying around movie stars and even Howard Hughes, the airline's owner. The pay back then (late 1930's to early 1950's) was excellent.

During WWII, he had so much 4-engine experience, he was one of the Navy's Command Check Pilots, certifying pilots to fly 4-engine planes.