School forcing kids to eat … tuna? THE HORROR (Opinion)

It's a story that caught a lot of attention last month — Cherry Hill schools are having trouble getting parents to pay the tab for their kids' lunches, so they're giving simple, plain-Jane, no-frills tuna sandwiches to kids whose families' accounts are past due.

Call it lunch shaming, if you're so inclined. Parents are worried their kids will be stigmatized when they're seen with the sandwiches. A school board member says the district went with tuna because PB&J would be more appetizing.

But the district says it's a way to keep the kids fed even when their accounts are past due — and that it's never enforced a policy that lets it hold lunch back entirely from a kid whose family is at least $20 behind.

But Jim Gearhart — in this week's edition of the Jim Gearhart Show, live on Facebook every Thursday at 10:30 a.m., and available here as a podcast every week. But he's tired of the way nothing ever seems to change — wonders ... what's so bad about tuna?

And cohost Bob Williams, frankly, was craving a tuna sandwich all through this week's broadcast.

A few of your comments:

George Worthington: I can't believe how much school lunches are now. Very expensive for what you get — might as well go out to eat. We used to pay 45 cents for a school lunch, which was big and pretty good.

Fran Weinman: If the the lunch account is in arrears, the parents should be called to come pick their kids up and take them home for lunch, then return them back to school — the parents will pay that bill off fast. Also, if the parent gets a call at work from the school more than once, their co-workers will wonder what's going on and hopefully will feel shamed that they let this happen ... lesson learned.

We asked if you'd prefer tuna or PB&J

John Nevius Jr.: Is both an option?

Luisa D Erich-Carr: 1,200 superintendents at $200,000 is costing $240,000,000 plus benefits.

Got an idea for an upcoming installment of Jim's show? Meet Jim at Facebook.com/NJ1015 to suggest it in the comments, or email Jim@nj1015.com.

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That's just part of what Jim and Bob Williams take on in the latest installment of his show, also available as a podcast. Check out the full episode to hear the rest.

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— New Jersey 101.5 staff

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