By PAMELA GOULD
The Spotsylvania County School Board delayed a vote last night on a revised meals policy after several members expressed opposition to punishing children for their parents' failure to pay to feed them.
Under the current policy and in the proposed revision, students whose parents owed money for meals they had eaten would be denied the opportunity to take part in activities such as field trips and field days.
Joyce Baugher, president of the Wilderness Elementary PTA, addressed the board at last night's meeting and said she supported the policy revisions except for that part.
Board members echoed that concern and expressed others.
They voted unanimously to table the issue until the next board meeting on July 20.
In the interim, the food service task force will meet to continue discussing it.
Lee Hill board member Amanda Blalock said she also opposed a debt cap proposed for elementary school-age children.
"I cannot support anything that would not feed a child at that age," Blalock said.
The discussion on revising the policy follows a school year that ended with roughly $28,000 worth of unpaid meals.
The proposed policy would no longer assure students a meal during the lunch day.
Instead, it would let elementary students run up a tab of $43, middle-schoolers a tab of $27, and high-schoolers one meal before credit was cut off.
Under the revised policy, phone calls and letters would be used to alert parents when an account went into a deficit and as it approached the limit.
If parents did not pay or set up a payment plan in response to those efforts, a collection agency could be used after the limit was reached.
If a child isn't being provided a lunch or money for one, the school system could contact the county's social services department to investigate possible child neglect.
School administrators are asking that parent-teacher organizations set up a safety net so that students with unpaid balances could at least get a cheese sandwich.
The School Board automatically was scheduled to review its meals policy this summer, but outstanding debts from the just-ended school year made the issue a hotter topic.
Of the $28,000 deficit, about $2,700 was owed by parents who later qualified for free or reduced-price lunches.
Federal funding pays for free and reduced-price lunches but is not retroactive.
That $2,700 sparked additional consternation after Superintendent Jerry Hill sent an end-of-school-year e-mail asking the staff to help cover that expense.
Stacy Seltzer, a Ni River Middle School teacher, was among the school employees who disliked the message.
She found it offensive, especially because teachers not only received no pay increases this year, but also saw the cost of their health insurance premiums rise.
"The solution is not for staff to make donations, but for [Chartwells food service] to return to a policy that limits the number of charges students are allowed, placing the responsibility back on parents, where it belongs," according to Seltzer.
"Many staff members have their own families to care for, in addition to spending money out of their own pockets to provide classroom supplies and materials to teach our students."
In other action last night, the School Board gave final approval by a 6-1 vote to a new policy for student participation in extracurricular activities. Salem District Board member Donald Holmes opposed it.
The extracurricular activities policy was developed after the superintendent and School Board learned that two students were allowed to help their school win a district track and field meet after being charged with malicious wounding by mob.
Those two students and seven other teens were charged after two teens were seriously injured during a beating that occurred off school grounds on a weekend in January.
Pamela Gould: 540/735-1972
Email: pgould@freelancestar.com
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On June 12, Superintendent Jerry Hill sent an e-mail to school employees asking them to help cover $2,700 in meals costs incurred by families that later qualified for free or reduced-price meals. School Board members interviewed didn't object to Hill sending the e-mail, but two said they appreciated why some school staff reacted negatively to it. "I understand why he did it but I think with the budget year being what it was, it was probably not the wisest thing to do," said Battlefield District Board member Linda Wieland, a retired teacher. She, like other board members, noted that teachers routinely pay out of their pockets for school supplies and cover other costs throughout the school year. "Teachers are already giving an awful lot, and Dr. Hill knows that. His heart was in the right place, but he wants to pay it off," she said. Salem District Board member Donald Holmes was aware the message sparked some negative reactions but said he didn't think Hill meant any harm. "I think it was just poorly worded and it was never his intent to suggest faculty and teachers were not doing all they could to help kids," he said. Chancellor District board member Martin Wilder and Livingston member Ray Lora said employees shouldn't have been offended by the message and were under no obligation to donate. "Dr. Hill, out of the goodness of his heart, sent out this memorandum," Lora said. "Anybody that took offense to that, shame on them." --Pam Gould |