DECATUR, Ga. — Community efforts are underway to pay off the outstanding student lunch debt balance in Decatur before the city district implements a plan that would result in students with unpaid balances receiving alternative meals of a cheese sandwich.
The cheese sandwich plan came under scrutiny from parents and community advocates, and was acknowledged last week in a webinar hosted by City Schools of Decatur Superintendent Dr. Gyimah Whitaker. It is set to take effect Feb. 2.
The superintendent in that webinar defended the plan, saying with the district facing an $88,000 outstanding balance on lunch debts that it has state and federal requirements for its nutrition program to remain fiscally sustainable.
According to that presentation, 46% ($41,000) of lunch debt was from students who pay for lunch and have an unpaid balance; 36% ($31,000) is from students who receive free or reduced lunch and have an unpaid balance; 12% is from students who are no longer in the district and left a balance behind ($12,000) and 6% is staff balance ($5,000).
The new policy that would go into effect Feb. 2 would cap unpaid balances at three charged meals for middle and high school students, about $10.50. For elementary students, it comes to about $9.75. After reaching those limits, students would be given a lunch of a cheese sandwich and milk.
Amid opposition, the founder and CEO of Goodr, Jasmine Crowe-Houston, started an online fundraiser to raise the $88,000 that would pay down the district's lunch debt. That had raised almost $6,000 as of Wednesday morning.
It's unclear if the district would still implement the three-charged-meals cap and cheese sandwich alternative policy if the lunch debt were wiped clean.
Dr. Whitaker, the superintendent, said last week she was not unsympathetic to the criticism and was working with a national nonprofit to "help us address the needs of our most vulnerable populations."
"I want you to know there is empathy and then there is lived experience, and I actually have both of them. I have told you often I am originally from West Philadelphia -- and yes most people say born and raised -- but also I can raise my hand and say I have the lived experience of a true block of cheese," she said. "I have the lived experience of food stamps -- not a EBT card or a WIC card that looks like a credit card. I know what it's like to go into a grocery store and only shop from the aisles with the black and white labels. So rest assured, I will do all that I can to make sure all means all for every student in our district. We will be innovative, but we also have to be fiscally sound. "