N.J. orders Deptford schools to suspend controversial unpaid meal policy

The Deptford School District has suspended its controversial, unpaid meals policy that would have served peanut butter or cheese sandwiches to students with delinquent accounts.

In a letter Tuesday to parents, Superintendent Kevin A. Kanauss wrote: “Following feedback and discussion with the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, this policy will be suspended effective immediately. All students will be offered school breakfast and lunch, regardless of the balance of their meal account.”

The district was directed “to discontinue its current policy immediately,” according to Jeff Wolfe, a Department of Agriculture spokesman. It must also amend its unpaid meal charge policy and submit it to the state for review prior to adoption by the board of education, he said.

In a statement, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said his administration “will not stand for policies that ostracize and harm New Jersey students, especially those who may already come from a family struggling to put food on the table.”

Reaction to the suspended policy was swift on the Deptford Town Talk Facebook page. The school board voted 8-0 to rescind the policy Tuesday night.

Mary Sam Reeves-Harding wrote: “Thank goodness! That was a disgrace! Embarrassing! No child should be hungry!!!”

Another commenter, Alan Menna, questioned the district’s familiarity with state policies. “They’re really just out here trying to do whatever they want. Who’s idea was that? Maybe the district should be giving themselves homework reading up on some regulations and laws,”Menna wrote.

The district said it enacted the policy for the new school year after some parents accrued thousands of dollars in debt. Already this year, 783 student accounts are $68,000 in arrears from past years’ dues. Full price for lunch is $3.25 for elementary students, $3.50 for middle school and $3.75 for high school.

Deptford enrolls about 4,100 students. About one-fourth were classified as economically disadvantaged in the latest New Jersey School Performance Report.

Under the now-suspended policy, the district planned to notify parents when student accounts reached $50 in arrears. Until the debt was paid, meals would be restricted based on grade level, with students in sixth through twelfth not getting breakfast or lunch.

The changes to District policy No. 8550 — Outstanding Food Services Charges — were announced to parents Sept. 13 and stated that younger students whose accounts were $50 in arrears would be limited to a “basic lunch,” and all students could have been barred from attending field trips, prom and dances, getting their report cards and participating in graduation.

» READ MORE: Deptford schools crack down on unpaid lunch accounts after students reach $68,000 in arrears

Critics, including U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, (D., Pa.), who tweeted about the policy, called it “evil” and said it unfairly punished students. Peter Chen, a senior analyst with the New Jersey Policy Perspective, a nonpartisan think tank, said the policy violated the state’s Hunger-Free Students’ Bill of Rights signed into law by Gov. Phil Murphy in 2020.

“This is punishing students for the fact that their parents have not paid. That’s exactly what the whole law was signed to avoid,” Chen said Tuesday. “What is this, if not public shaming. It’s abhorrent.”

Jeff Wolfe, the Department of Agriculture spokesman said that Deptford’s amended meal change policy must comply with Hunger-Free Students Bill of Rights Act and the Working Families Act. The district will not longer provide alternative meals due to money owed for previous meals, he said. The revised plan will not be implemented in cafeterias until the board of education reviews and approves it.

Kanauss said the district plans to reevaluate its unpaid meals policy and process for collecting past day balances, which will be handled separately from meal service. He urged parents to submit applications for free or reduced lunch.

» READ MORE: Free breakfast returns for Pa. school students this year, Gov. Wolf announces

About a half-dozen states have adopted universal free lunch programs. A bill that would phase that program in over several years and provide free lunch to New Jersey’s 1.1 million public school students is pending in the state legislature.

Pennsylvania enacted a universal free breakfast in 2022. Some districts, like Philadelphia and Camden, already provide universal free breakfast and lunch to students because of the high rates of poverty among students. Students in Philadelphia schools have received free breakfast and lunch since 2014.