WARRICK CO., IN (WFIE) -
A Newburgh mom says her daughter didn't get lunch because she owed less than two dollars on her cafeteria account.
The school says it's because they're in the red thousands of dollars because of unpaid lunches, but they say no student should go hungry.
That new policy went into effect May 1st and is strictest on high school students.
The school corporation says they sent out plenty of letters telling parents about the new guidelines, saying elementary students can't go more than negative $20 in their account. It's negative $10 for middle school students and a zero balance for high school students.
The Food and Nutrition Department says, although it is a sensitive issue, they had to do something to make up for more than $32,000 in unpaid lunches.
"It was impossible to make phone calls, you couldn't even narrow it down to who to call, or who to even begin calling, when you have that many students who owe money," said Director of Food and Nutrition for the Warrick County School Corporation Shanae Rowe.
Rowe says the lunch account program really got out of hand in the last five years, with 2,300 students charging $33,000 worth in lunches.
In 2007, there were less than 200 students who owed the school corporation $2,300.
Students use an I.D. Number linked to an account to purchase their lunch.
It is the parents responsibility to make sure the account has money and to replenish when necessary or send their student with a lunch.
In the past, students were able to make purchases even if there were no funds available.
"And we also felt it wasn't fair to the students who were paying, that were on full paid meals to allow parents to continue to charge hundreds and hundreds of dollars," Rowe said.
In response to parents who said they didn't have enough notice on the zero balance change, Rowe says since March, they've sent home letters and even mailed some to parents who were near the new guidelines.
So far this week, they've had 12 students out of 10,000 who surpassed their allowed amount and says if that happens they can get a lunch from the school nurse.
"We've gotten low, but we've gotten good communication in the past, we've been able to replenish the funds in time, so it wasn't an issue, so as long as we've got good communication in the program, I think it works okay," said parent Phil Lambert.
Lambert has a daughter and son in elementary school in Warrick County, who can go negative $20 each on their account, but says even when they get to high school, he thinks the guidelines are fair.
"They have to know they do it once, they don't eat lunch, they'll do it next time," Lambert said.
Right now, the school says there are 630 students who have a negative balance on their account, but are still within the new guidelines.
They've also been able to bring their deficit from $33,000 to about $9,000.
The school does have an email alert system, where they can email you twice a week if your child's balance is low. You sign up by emailing your school cafeteria manager.
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