“We need to explore compassionate, creative ways to help schools cover the cost of meal debt without sacrificing students’ dignity or family privacy.” (Getty Images)
If we want to create healthy futures for our children, we need to remove the structural barriers that deny some students the opportunity to learn and thrive. One of those barriers, shockingly, exists in the Keene School District, where students are being shamed and denied food because of their families’ unpaid school meal debt.
When families fall behind on paying school meal bills, Keene’s policy is to tell children they can’t eat the meal on their tray. For elementary school students, they’re offered a cold sandwich instead of a nutritious meal. For middle and high school students, they are outright denied food. This approach not only embarrasses students in front of their peers but also exposes their family’s financial difficulties in the school lunch line. This is unacceptable.
I understand that school districts face financial struggles and that federal reimbursements for free and reduced-price meals often do not cover the actual costs. But punishing children by withholding food is not the answer. Schools should be places where students can feel safe, supported, and ready to learn. No child should have to worry about going hungry at school because of circumstances beyond their control.
Keene’s current policy deepens the very problems it aims to solve. By shaming children and exposing family hardships, we are creating an environment where kids are made to feel less worthy and less able to participate fully in their education. This not only impacts their physical health but also their ability to learn.
We need to explore compassionate, creative ways to help schools cover the cost of meal debt without sacrificing students’ dignity or family privacy. Solutions should not involve denying children the nutrition they need to thrive. Instead, the focus should be on supporting families, not stigmatizing them.
The problem is exacerbated by the fact that income eligibility requirements for free and reduced meals do not reflect the true number of families in need. Families just a dollar over the threshold are denied benefits, even as they struggle with the rising costs of food, housing, and other basic necessities. Is the school district considering that families behind on meal payments might also be dealing with food insecurity? Denying a child perhaps the only nutritious meal they’ll have all day is cruel, not a solution.
In addition to changing harmful policies, we must also ensure that all eligible families are connected to the food and nutrition programs they qualify for. We can’t leave kids behind because of administrative hurdles or outdated application processes. Simplifying access to these programs is critical to addressing the larger issue of food insecurity in our community.
New Hampshire Hunger Solutions (NHHS) has been working on several statewide policy solutions that would help address this problem in meaningful ways:
Medicaid Direct Certification: This policy would automatically enroll children in school meal programs if they are already receiving Medicaid benefits, removing the need for a separate application and ensuring more students receive the meals they need.
Expanding Free Meal Eligibility: We are working to Increase eligibility for free school meals to families earning up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL). This would allow more families struggling to make ends meet to access school meal programs.
Online Applications for Free/Reduced Meals: We would like to see all schools have an online application process for meal programs, making it easier for families to apply and ensuring no child is left out because of a paperwork barrier.
When access to food and nutrition programs is inefficient or difficult, we compound the challenges that many families are already facing. By making it harder for kids to receive meals at school, we inadvertently deepen their hardship rather than providing a pathway to opportunity.
It’s time for the Keene School District to rethink its policies on school meal debt. Together, as a community, we can do better. We owe it to our children to ensure they have the nutrition and dignity they need to succeed.