MEAD, Wash — A family member of a Mead School District student claims the meal options are not fair.
The viewer said in a Facebook message her sister, who qualifies for free lunches, is not getting the same meal options as students who pay for lunch.
KREM 2 confirmed with the Mead School district that this is not entirely accurate.
According to Washington state law, students have the right to a meal regardless of their ability to pay or not.
Nutrition Director Kim Elkins explained its middle schools have two lunch lines. One serves sandwiches and a salad bar daily, the other serves the entree option of the day.
She said students can choose either option. The lines are not restricted to a certain meal benefit status.
Elkins adds it is state and district policy to provide a meal to students whether they have funds or not.
The only restriction is students cannot purchase any extras, like a bag of chips or an extra milk, if they do not have sufficient funds.
That's the only way one lunch could look different from another. Students still have access all the same salad toppings and meal options.
Last fall, we learned the Post Falls School district is the only district in our area still serving alternative meals to students with a negative lunch balance.
At the time, Superintendent Jerry Keane said the district was discussing changes to its meal policies. Shortly after, they allowed three negative meal charges to all students, not just Kindergarten through 8th grade.
We followed up with Post Falls School district Wednesday about any other changes to its lunch policy.
The superintendent said the district actually received enough private donations to cover all outstanding lunch balances.
As a result, the district is no longer serving alternative lunches like this one.
Meaning, now all students receive the same meal options.