District under fire for new lunch payment policy

The Athens Area School District's new lunch charge policy, which does not allow middle and high school students to get lunch if they have no money in hand or in their accounts, has caused an uproar in parents who took to social media earlier this week to vent frustrations.

However, Craig Stage, the district's acting superintendent, said many of the claims made on the Internet about the policy and district were untrue.

"Some of the stuff on social media was not entirely correct," Stage said.

Stage responded to allegations of neglect and malicious intent by the district and its new policy at Harlan-Rowe Middle School and the high school.

The policy eliminates middle and high school students' ability to charge meals to a student lunch account.

Stage said the shift stems from historically high overdue balances on lunch accounts.

"We have had $12,000 to $20,000 in excess charges," Stage said of delinquent lunch accounts. "We don't get that money back."

Stage said in order for the district to recoup the lost funds, the district can spend almost as much as what is owed in the recoup process and that it can take years.

"It's our district's responsibility to use the valuable tax dollars and resources our community affords us for student achievement," he said.

Using that money to bolster instruction and supplies is better than using it to eliminate delinquent lunch accounts.

"The goal of changing the charge policy was never to let a child go hungry," he said. "It was to create accountability and responsibility."

Only about 15 students did not receive lunch on the first day, Stage said.

"On Tuesday the number was small and Wednesday it was even smaller," he said. "I assume every day it will get better. We're going to help those kids. It's not insurmountable."

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, schools are encouraged to use "all resources to determine if the student could qualify for free/reduced meals, however, schools are not required by law to do so."

Stage addressed some of the topics concerned parents brought up on social media, including the Summer Feeding program at Sayre Area School District and Canton Area School district's lunch policy.

He said the Summer Feeding program was not just for Sayre students, but for anyone under 18 who wanted breakfast or lunch. That program is funded by federal money, he said.

As for Canton, their district met certain criteria, including a high percentage of students using the Free and Reduced Lunch program, which allowed it to provide meals to all students.

The Free and Reduced Lunch program is available at Athens and Stage encourages all parents to fill out the provided forms, even if their child does not need to use the program.

By having a high response rate to the program, Stage said federal money can be made available to the district and potentially alleviate the lunch charge problem.

"The more people who participate, the more people who fill that form out, the better for the district," he said. "If our entire school population fills the form out, we have a more accurate percentage of our Free and Reduced Lunch kids, which allows more money."