Kokomo High School, of Kokomo, Ind., has instituted a new policy of issuing a cheese-and-bread sandwich to any student who owes more than twenty-five dollars to their school lunch account. The school warned of the policy change near the end of 2015 but has only recently begun enforcing it.
The aim of the policy was to get students and their families to pay their balances. So, while apologizing for any offense taken, the school district has defended the need for the policy, citing that 499 students are in debt on their lunch accounts. Of that 499, only 10% of those students come from low-income families who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.
"Some of these people on the list, I'm sorry, are making $100,000 a year," said David Barnes, the communications director for Kokomo School Corporation. "Family of four, and have a debt over $100. I'm sorry, those people need to pay their bills.”
The district said that the lunch accounts have put them $50,000 in debt, which threatens their acquiring of federal funding.
The school has temporarily suspended the policy until February to give parents a chance to pay their debts to the school. Which seems to be working, since the school has already received $15,000 in back payments.