Photographed in the Times Free Press studio on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn., this typical lunch to pack for school includes a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, carrots, a tube of yogurt and a box of apple juice, among other items. Hamilton County’s unpaid school lunch debt might grow while the system ensures students have something to eat at school under a potential board of education policy change.
Currently, students in grades K-8 who have not paid for breakfast or lunch are able to charge the meals to their account and still eat, but students in grades 9-12 have not had that option.
Though the district did not have a board policy for how a student who was unable to pay for lunch was handled, some board members have said that in the past food has been taken away or students have been embarrassed.
But a new policy up for discussion at Thursday’s school board meeting would allow high school students to charge up to $40 in meals to their accounts.
“We have to feed our kids,” said board member Kathy Lennon, of District 2, at Monday’s meeting. “Bottom line, they can’t learn if they have empty bellies, and they need to have breakfast and lunch.”