By Peter Szekely
(Reuters) - A move by a Rhode Island school district to collect overdue lunch money that often amounted to nickels and dimes erupted into a food fight with irate parents this week, and had administrators walking back their get-tough policy.
It began last Sunday when Warwick Public Schools announced that starting on May 13, students who owe money on their lunch accounts would be served sunflower butter and jelly sandwiches until they paid up.
The terse announcement, made on the school district's Facebook account, elicited more than 1,000 comments, many from parents angry about having their kids singled out for owing what they said was often pocket change.
"I got three letters for .05 cents owed," wrote parent Angela Lewis. "Finally I taped a nickel to the paper and sent it in. Really they need to chase a nickel!"
"This is absolutely awful," added Sarah Hovey Bouvier. "Our schools shouldn't be in the business of shaming children."
But some residents supported the school district's move as measured response to a nagging problem.
"If anyone can suggest a better way for the city to collect money owed please suggest it," said Warwick business owner Adam W. Gil. "The kids will still eat."
Adding irritation to the dispute were reports that a local restaurant owner tried to give the schools $4,000 collected from donation jars, but was refused.
By Wednesday, however, the district said its School Committee Policy Subcommittee was recommending the panel rescind the policy, and posted a lengthy clarification of what led to it. It said it was working with attorneys so it could legally accept donations.
For one thing, the Warwick School Committee said, the sunflower-and-jelly sandwiches, which are already a regular lunch menu choice, are accompanied by vegetables, fruit and milk, making it a "balanced lunch."
The lunch debts, which totaled $77,000, were caused not so much by students who are eligible for free or subsidized meals, but by kids from financially stable homes who ran up tabs for snacks, such as pizza, fries, and ice cream, the committee said.
Nearly three-quarters of the 1,653 Warwick students who owe lunch money were not enrolled in the schools' free or subsidized lunch program, it said.
"With this Policy we seek to find a balance between being fiscally responsible and ensuring that all our students are provided with a healthy, nutritious lunch," School Committee Chairwoman Karen Bachus said in the Wednesday Facebook post.
(Reporting by Peter Szekely; Editing by Susan Thomas)
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