A New Jersey school district is preventing students with more than $75 in lunch debt from going to prom and participating in extracurricular activities.
According to BBC News, the Cherry Hill school board made the decision after public outcry over an earlier plan to give students who were behind on payments tuna sandwiches rather than other food. Critics had described that idea as "lunch shaming."
So, the school district reportedly decided to get rid of the tuna sandwich idea and ban indebted kids from prom and extracurriculars instead.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports a retired businessman offered to help pay off thousands of dollars in lunch debt, but the board did not accept the charitable donation -- arguing it didn't address "the many families with financial means who have just chosen not to pay what is owed."
"Unfortunately, there is a discussion going on outside of our community that is dramatically different and not representative of what is going on within our community," Superintendent Joseph Meloche told the Courier-Post in a statement this week.
What other people are reading right now:
- Body of missing 3-year-old Kamille 'Cupcake' McKinney believed to be found in dumpster
- 39 people found dead in truck container in England
- Relatives of lynching victims feel renewed pain with Trump tweet
- Pinellas County votes to ban horseback riding in waters around Skyway Bridge
- Tampa Theatre spooking people with events leading up to Halloween
FREE 10NEWS APP:
