Iowa wants to end school 'lunch shaming,' and use parents ' tax refunds to pay off debt

When Cassandra Erwin's son was $10 behind in his account, the school lunch lady gave him a warning.

She told him "if he didn't bring money tomorrow, he couldn't eat," Erwin said.

"My son is in third grade," she said. "He doesn't have a job or money of his own ... he should never be told that he can't eat."

Some Iowa schools use the threat of withholding food, and other so-called "lunch shaming" tactics, to entice parents to pay off school lunch debt.

► Anti-lunch shaming bill passes unanimously out of Iowa House, heads to Senate

It's something lawmakers want to stop — and they are working across party lines to do so.

The Iowa House unanimously passed a bill Thursday that prohibits schools from publicly identifying students who cannot pay for their meals.

It also encourages districts to offer students a hot lunch whether or not they can pay.

It's unclear how much that might cost. The legislation does not provide any additional funding, but it gives districts a new way to potentially recoup some lunch debt by allowing the state to withhold parents' income tax refunds or lottery winnings in some circumstances.

School districts "can't float the debt of every single student — nor should they," Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Marion, said.

But students also need to eat in order to focus on school, she said. "They need the meals so they can succeed in the classroom."

The legislation now moves to the Iowa Senate, where it must pass the Senate Education Committee by March 16 to remain viable this session.

A greater cost?

The Iowa House bill does not require school districts to provide students with the same meal as their peers.

But schools are encouraged to offer a hot lunch.

Some districts give low-cost cheese or sunbutter sandwiches (similar to peanut butter but made from sunflower seeds) to students who cannot pay.

"I believe (the legislation) encourages schools to err on the side of feeding children," Rep. Kirsten Running-Marquardt, D-Cedar Rapids said.

If all Iowa school districts opt to serve full meals in an effort to stay within the law, it would mean an estimated 3.4 million more breakfasts and 12.5 million lunches.

The price quickly adds up, costing between $8.1 million and $15.8 million, according to recent Legislative Services Agency estimates.

Reduced-cost lunches cost about 40 cents, while full meals average $2.75. Breakfasts are less.

► Iowa lawmakers propose solution to prevent children from going hungry

Under the proposal, schools that currently offer alternative meals can continue to do so. But the alternative must be offered to other students to make it more difficult to identify those in debt.

That could help cut down the cost to school districts.

Not a child's 'responsibility'

While working as a lunch lady in Cedar Rapids, Erin Nelson would sometimes bring change she earned as an evening waitress to supplement lunch accounts in the red.

As a cafeteria worker, she was charged with telling middle school students if they had fallen too far in debt.

If they could not pay, students were told to throw out their hot meals; in its place, they were given a peanut-free sandwich.

Some students were mortified, she said.

"They didn't even give them jelly," Nelson said. "Just the sunbutter sandwich, a cheese stick and milk."

Iowa lawmakers want to outlaw certain "lunch shaming" practices:

Schools must "discreetly" share information about a student's lunch account.

Schools must prevent students in debt from being segregated at a separate table.

Schools may not require students in debt to wear a wristband, hand stamp or other identifying marks, or do chores or other work to "pay for" their meal.

Schools are encouraged to have the checkout counter before students receive food so that it's not taken away from them.

Erwin said school officials never should have addressed lunch debt with her third-grade son.

"I don't care if it's $10 or $100; if you put that stress on a kid, they have to think about that all day. That's not conducive to learning," she said.

Nelson, the former lunch lady, recalls when her son's account went negative a few years ago. The high-schooler was so ashamed he left the cafeteria without anything to eat. He called her crying.

"You're so embarrassed at that point because they just took your lunch and everyone knows it because you don't have any money in your account," she said.

She paid the account the next day, she said.

Collecting lunch debt

Lunch debt is a growing challenge for some Iowa school districts.

In Ankeny, for example, lunch debt rose from $5,000 four years ago to more than $43,000 this fall. By the end of January, it had risen to more than $53,000, according to district data.

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The Des Moines Register surveyed 100 of Iowa's 333 school districts and found more than $535,000 in cumulative lunch debt.

On average, individual lunch accounts that were $24.61 in the red.

Some is revolving debt, similar to a credit card that is paid off regularly; but some families move before they pay that debt, or are unable or unwilling to pay.

The legislation would help schools collect school lunch debt by:

Allowing income tax or lottery winnings to be withheld after two years if $500 or more in lunch debt is owed.

Continue allowing districts to use debt collection agencies.

"There are some extreme cases out there that have the ability to pay but they’re not paying," Running-Marquardt said.

Some districts have looked to donations as a solution to covering lunch debt, but so far only a small sliver of debt is paid for through community or nonprofit contributions, the Register found.

Of the 100 districts surveyed, roughly 60 percent reported donations, which totaled $19,000 — just 3.5 percent of the debt owed to Iowa schools.

The Iowa House bill would require that donations designated to pay down lunch debt be used for that purpose. Officials said they'd heard reports of donations funding other items.

►How Des Moines schools' new director reinvented the school lunch

In addition, the proposed legislation would require districts to send home free-and-reduced lunch applications twice a year, which many already do.

Family circumstances, such as a job loss or divorce, can mean a shift in income that doesn't align with the start of school.

"We wanted to make sure we weren’t missing out on anyone who wasn’t getting the breakfast or lunch they needed if they couldn’t afford it," Hinson said.

Nelson, who no longer works as a lunch lady, said she hated to see students embarrassed or desperate for a hearty meal. She knew some didn't eat at home.

It was heartbreaking to offer students a sunbutter sandwich, and then watch them eat what they could from the hot meal before dumping it in the trash, she said.

"It made me feel terrible," she said. "Anyone with a heart doesn't want to take lunch from anyone."