GREENWOOD, Ind. (AP) — A suburban Indianapolis school district has suspended its policy of serving cold sandwiches to students whose families owe lunch money after a kindergartner’s relatives said the girl was shamed for not having enough money for lunch.
Superintendent Kent DeKoninck of Greenwood Community Schools says the district south of Indianapolis plans to review its meal-charging policy and processes “to see how we can do things better.” That move comes amid a growing national backlash against “lunch shaming.”
The Indianapolis Star reports that cafeteria workers took away a 6-year-old girl’s tray of hot food last week and replaced it with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich because she lacked enough money for lunch.
The girl’s grandfather, Dwight Howard, told WISH-TV that she “was more than sad” because the incident caused her embarrassment.
