New Jersey school district is punishing children who owe more than $10 in lunch debt by giving them TUNA SANDWICHES on whole wheat bread

The Cherry Hill Schools district in New Jersey said on Tuesday it will serve children tuna on whole wheat bread if they're in meal debt of more than $10.

It was decided as a group discussed the $14,343 debt in unpaid meals from about 343 students in the past year, even though the food program with a $3million fund turned a $200,000 profit.

Tuna isn't the only healthy component they can pick up as part of the lunch offering, the 11,000 students in Camden County can drink milk or juice and snack on cucumber or carrot sticks.

Board members and parents probed about other fillings in a meeting and assistant superintendent Lynn Shugars explained the reason for the choice provided by Aramark: 'We opted for tuna fish over peanut butter because we know that our little ones would probably very happily eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches until the end of time.'

Those attending the meeting questioned why give the students tuna when it had been previously expressed that the filling was a problem for some.

One attendee asked: 'Regarding the tuna versus the special of the day… is there a cost savings to the tuna?' 

The change in plan came after elementary and middle schools in the township upped the prices for lunch to $3 and made it $3.10 for its three high schools.

A school board member said in the meeting that 'for a family that might not qualify (for reduced lunches) or is food-insecure, we've already got a problem'.

Laurie Neary added: 'So, does that become a recipe to grow the problem versus curtail the problem.'

The district currently sends letters home for every 10 days students are without lunch cash. They also advise parents about financial help and share information on how to apply for reduced or free meals which 20 percent of the district qualifies for, according to the website.

'We are happy to work with parents. We want people to apply for free and reduced lunch because it's good for us as it is good for them,' Shugars said.

They discussed calling parents of each student but noted it was impractical. 

Their policy is to not feed students at all if they exceed $20 in debt but decided it was too harsh. 

'We have not been adhering to our own policy because we have not stopped serving lunch to the students and that is part of the reason why we have some of the balances that we have accumulated so far,' Shugars said. 

'I know that that will not be a popular decision. No one wants to see a child upset because they can't get what they want for lunch. But I feel that we are at a point ... where that's the stance that we should take.'

Most of the 1,723 accounts in debt, 1,380 of which owe under $10, are for students at Cherry Hill West and John Carusi Middle schools.

'If we don't adhere to our policy, we're going to be perpetually, I feel, chasing after this problem,' Shugars continued. 'I have concerns that if people feel that we are not addressing it, that other people will not pay balances.'

The district will not accept contributions from its Foundation or from other sources to cover money from the unpaid meals. 

Shugars alleged there are non-financial reasons parents are not paying for the lunches. 

But one parent with four youngsters enrolled in the South Jersey district blasted letting children go without.

'You can't send kids to school and not feed them,' Rick Short said. 'It's just not right. This is a very unfair system that needs to be fixed.'

Superintendent Joseph Meloche emphasized that the district had never left a child hungry.

'We want the kids eating. We want to help them,' he told the Philadelphia Inquirer on Wednesday.

But Short continued that making a child eat a meal that was different to other students was 'food shaming'.

Speaking about how the choice meets the USDA nutritional standards, Shugars added: 'It's not just a tuna fish sandwich. It's an actual meal.'