A rural Pennsylvania school district has reportedly rejected several offers to pay off a $22,000 school lunch debt accrued by several children over the school year. Offers of donations from outside sources poured in after families of Wyoming Valley West School District students received letters warning that their children could be moved to foster care if their lunch debts were not settled.
Joseph Muth, director of federal programs for the school district said in a letter to about 40 families, “Your child has been sent to school every day without money and without a breakfast and/or lunch. This is a failure to provide your child with proper nutrition and you can be sent to Dependency Court for neglecting your child’s right to food. If you are taken to Dependency court, the result may be your child being removed from your home and placed in foster care.”
The letter, which caused alarm in a community known for being one of the poorer communities in Pennsylvania, went viral online attracting the attention of several prominent people interested in paying off the debt. One of the would-be donors was Todd Carmichael, founder of La Colombe coffee, who said he grew up with little means and could relate to the situation.
“I know what it’s like to be shamed at school. I know what these things are. And I know how my mother would react if someone threatened to take her children away,” he said.
Carmichael said his attempt to pay off the debt was rebuked by the school board, with efforts to donate money even becoming contentious. Other donors, who wished to remain anonymous, reported similar encounters in their attempts to give money to the school district. Carmichael suggested that the school district was using the threat of foster care to teach a lesson.
“This really isn’t about the money,” he said. “I think it’s about teaching people who are struggling some sort of moral lesson they need to learn, no matter what the consequences are.”
Not all local officials condoned the school board’s method of recouping lunch money. Luzerne County Manager David Pedri, who oversees the foster care program in the area, sent a letter condemning the threatening nature of the school board’s letter saying, “Foster care is something we utilize as a shield to assist kids. It’s not a sword. We don’t like foster care being utilized to try to terrorize individuals.”
Others defended the letter, saying times are economically tough in Wyoming Valley West and money should be saved and protected wherever possible.
Joseph Mazur, president of the local board of education, said, “I think you have to pay your bills. I mean, I’ve been paying my bills all my life. So has everybody else. I mean, sometimes you have to do without something for yourself if you want to raise your kids and see that they’re taken care of … We are in the process of trying to save money wherever we can … I don’t care if it’s $1,000 or $20,000.”
Wyoming Valley West School District did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner.
