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   Jonathan Kamens (jik@federate.social)'s status on Monday, 16-Sep-2024 01:17:55 JST Jonathan Kamens

   in reply to

   Having said that, the district doesn't get a free pass here.
   1) Suing in small-claims court for lunch debt never should have been put on the table as an acceptable solution.
   2) Instead of suing parents, the district's time would have been better spent visiting them at home, knocking on their doors, and offering to help them fill out the paperwork right then and there. "We sent them letters in the mail and they ignored them so we've done everything we can" is bullshit.
   5/5

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     Jonathan Kamens (jik@federate.social)'s status on Monday, 16-Sep-2024 01:17:57 JST Jonathan Kamens

     in reply to

     The best way out of this mess is universal free lunches. The church could help by campaigning for that.
     Alternatively, the church could help by working with the parents who are in debt to help them fill out the free-lunch paperwork, THEN paying off their past debt.
     However, given the system within which we are forced to exist, just paying off the debts for everyone as the first move is not actually the most efficacious solution.
     4/5

     Bill repeated this.
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     Jonathan Kamens (jik@federate.social)'s status on Monday, 16-Sep-2024 01:17:59 JST Jonathan Kamens

     in reply to

     If the district lets the church pay off these debts, they are (a) spending charitable funds that could be spent elsewhere if those lunches were being paid for by the state, and (b) foreclosing a future source of revenue for the school district by enabling parents to continue not filling out the free lunch paperwork. Neither of these are positive outcomes.
     3/5

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     Jonathan Kamens (jik@federate.social)'s status on Monday, 16-Sep-2024 01:18:01 JST Jonathan Kamens

     in reply to

     As the article explains, many families with school lunch debt are eligible for free lunches; they just have to fill out paperwork to apply for them. Some parents don't apply because they're embarrassed; some don't apply because they find it too difficult to navigate the bureaucracy; and some, frankly, don't apply because they're lazy and can't be bothered.
     When they apply, the district gets money from the state to cover their kids' lunches; otherwise, the district doesn't get those funds.
     2/5

     Bill repeated this.
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     Jonathan Kamens (jik@federate.social)'s status on Monday, 16-Sep-2024 01:18:03 JST Jonathan Kamens

     There's an article circulating about a town in New Hampshire which started taking parents with delinquent school lunch debts to small claims court even though a local church offered to pay off all the debts for everyone in the district. I saw someone post the article with the intro, "The cruelty is the point." I'm not replying directly to their post, both because I feel that would be kind of obnoxious, and because I doubt they would be receptive to a more nuanced take. But I have Thoughts™.
     🧵1/5

     Bill repeated this.