Anonymous wrote:Free lunch last year was awful. Major supply issues. Kids taking way more than they needed because it was free. Not having enough for kids late to the line. Poor selection. Food was cold or undercooked because of the vast quantity they had to prepare. The posted menu was never right. I could go on. Now that lunch is a small fee again this year, Everything seems to be much better. Food is actually hot. What’s on the menu is actually served.

By the way, things have changed. Kids from higher income families don’t buy school lunch anymore. Everyone packs it. Except maybe pizza day. So the stories of how it used to be back when we were kids don’t apply now days.

My kid buys lunch and we are higher income - and so do her friends (can’t say for sure their incomes, but by outward appearances they are high income)

Free lunch last year was awful. Major supply issues. Kids taking way more than they needed because it was free. Not having enough for kids late to the line. Poor selection. Food was cold or undercooked because of the vast quantity they had to prepare. The posted menu was never right. I could go on. Now that lunch is a small fee again this year, Everything seems to be much better. Food is actually hot. What’s on the menu is actually served.

By the way, things have changed. Kids from higher income families don’t buy school lunch anymore. Everyone packs it. Except maybe pizza day. So the stories of how it used to be back when we were kids don’t apply now days.

I think it's so stupid to charge for breakfast AND lunch at school.

Think about it, we don't charge the kids for pencils, paper, computers, air conditioning, bathroom facilities (with or without soap haha), etc. Why should we charge for food?

Based on comments today about the decision in California to make lunch free for all students, even the subreddit r/conservative seems to agree that not letting any kids go hungry at school is a good thing. Not DCUM making them look like socialists!

Anonymous wrote:I’m surprised DC didn’t find a way to continue this program. It was cost effective, reduced admin burdens, directly helps kids, and destigmatized aid. It was a win on so many levels.

Yes to all of this. I know I shouldn’t be shocked by the comments on this forum anymore. But man, if we can’t get behind feeding all our kids without judgement and worry, not sure what we can get behind.

Now I have to add lunch to the cost of all the after school enrichment at Janney. This could break the bank.

I’m surprised DC didn’t find a way to continue this program. It was cost effective, reduced admin burdens, directly helps kids, and destigmatized aid. It was a win on so many levels.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:it would be nice if all dcps students were able to indefinitely get free lunch

Really because the money should go to much higher priority things like actually having soaps in the bathroom, mental health support, etc..not giving free lunches to families who can afford to pay for it or pack their own

A kid who's hungry is a kid who isn't learning.

Some kids have parents who don't bother to fill out the forms or just don't care about getting their kids lunch. Kids with crappy parents need to eat too.

Oh come on. If the kid is not getting lunch because parents don’t fill out the form, which likely is a negligent number, the school will know and give the kid lunch.

No kid is sitting there not eating lunch when all the other kids are in the classroom.

I would buy a soda and just drink that for lunch. I told people I wasn't hungry. A week's worth of soda cost about the same as one lunch. At home our freezer had a lock on it to prevent us from taking food.

If you're wondering why I didn't just use the soda money to go to the grocery store and buy bread and peanut butter, I was a kid and didn't think about it possibly because we lived way out in the country miles away from the school and a grocery store.

Anonymous wrote:It amazes me the entitlement on this thread. Everyone should get free lunch just because.

Yes, there are lots of DCPS schools that don’t have adequate basics such as hand soaps in the bathroom which is just one of numerous inadequates.

Yeah, why not free lunch for everybody lol, child or adult? I wouldn't mind that savings for all of us in the family.

There shouldn’t be the same stigma as non free lunch kids also buy lunch. It is now electronically invoiced and no kid is turned away due to high balance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:it would be nice if all dcps students were able to indefinitely get free lunch

Really because the money should go to much higher priority things like actually having soaps in the bathroom, mental health support, etc..not giving free lunches to families who can afford to pay for it or pack their own

A kid who's hungry is a kid who isn't learning.

Some kids have parents who don't bother to fill out the forms or just don't care about getting their kids lunch. Kids with crappy parents need to eat too.

Oh come on. If the kid is not getting lunch because parents don’t fill out the form, which likely is a negligent number, the school will know and give the kid lunch.

No kid is sitting there not eating lunch when all the other kids are in the classroom.

I was, for years. I mostly found other places to be besides the lunch room because it was embarrassing. Probably if the kid is 6 someone will notice, but older kids hide this stuff when there's a stigma associated with getting school lunches.

Anonymous wrote:i don't think its entitlement. i would love to see free lunch and aftercare at all of the dcps schools for everyone. it would eliminate the problem of kids with big unpaid lunch bills etc. it would also help remove the subtle socioeconomic divisions between the kids because everyone would just automatically get it. it would be a shift from what we are used to.

This is a really good point.

i don't think its entitlement. i would love to see free lunch and aftercare at all of the dcps schools for everyone. it would eliminate the problem of kids with big unpaid lunch bills etc. it would also help remove the subtle socioeconomic divisions between the kids because everyone would just automatically get it. it would be a shift from what we are used to.

There are efficiencies in the economies of scale of just making lunch available to every kid. You don't have to worry about employing folks to do the paperwork of figuring out who gets the free lunch and who doesn't. You don't have to have folks taking care of the payment system. Those resources could go to teaching resources.

While we're at it, could we also centralize the supply lists? The sheer inefficiency of fifty thousand families each buying five notebooks and a dozen pens every year -- from both the standpoint of the cost of the goods and the cost of the labor -- is insane to me.

(Also wondering why it's "entitled" to expect free lunch but not entitled to expect free soap and bathroom supplies. Surely both are essential to students' learning?)

It amazes me the entitlement on this thread. Everyone should get free lunch just because.

Yes, there are lots of DCPS schools that don’t have adequate basics such as hand soaps in the bathroom which is just one of numerous inadequates.