With the threat of having to pay for student Metrocards looming over public school parents, now they'll have to worry that their kids won't even be able to eat once they get there. The Department of Education, which usually pays for lunch for 73% of the city's public school kids, has send an email to 500 school principals saying they can't afford the bill anymore. Apparently, some kids who aren't eligible for free lunches have been getting away with not paying the $1.50 for a meal, and the DOE says the schools' budgets will be charged for any outstanding fees.
Between 2004 and 2009, the DOE reportedly lost $35 million in uncollected lunch fees, and blame schools for not collecting. But schools say they don't want to let the children starve because parents aren't complying with payments. Assemblyman Mark Weprin also says this is not the schools' responsibility. "Part of the problem is that for years, the DOE has denied the old adage that there is no such thing as a free lunch and parents have been out there taking lunches and not paying for them and DOE has absorbed those costs. They shouldn't have been doing that and now they certainly shouldn't be punishing principals and schools."
The DOE says it will now be each school's responsibility to pay for the lunch program or stop giving away lunches. The DOE of course needs the cash to give away breakfast and lunch for free all summer, to anyone under 18, no ID required. Who's ready to slap on a Justin Bieber t-shirt and eat?
