New Jersey School District Sparks Controversy Over Student Lunches

(NBC) A New Jersey school district on Tuesday evening plans to discuss whether to strictly enforce their policy of denying food to students who are more than $20 in lunch debt. The Cherry Hill School Districts Board of Education has faced pushback since an Aug. 13 meeting at which Assistant Superintendent Lynn Shugars proposed giving tuna sandwiches to students who had a more than $10 in lunch debt and no food to students who had more than $20 debt. The policy has been on the books since 2017 when the district wiped about $25000 of students lunch debt and allowed everyone to start with a balance of $0 according to district Superintendent Joseph N. Meloche. The debt has ballooned in two years to $18000 with more than $14000 owed by 343 students who owe more than $10.