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Public commenters tell UCPS charge policy is leaving students hungry
Summary
Several members of the public told the Union County Public Schools board that a reinstated charge/alternate-meal policy has caused students to be denied regular lunches and prompted calls for district-level fixes, including an "angel fund." Speakers gave counts of affected students and described instances of children skipping meals.
Several public commenters told the Union County Public Schools Board of Education that a recently reinstated charge policy requiring cafeterias to offer an "alternate meal" is leaving students without lunch and causing shame for children who cannot pay, speakers said at the board meeting.
The concerns centered on how the alternate-meal practice is implemented. "School Nutrition Services must offer an alternate meal at no cost to the student," said Christian Velasquez, a public commenter. "This means that the debt is merely shifted as School Nutrition only receives the federal reimbursement of 53¢ for that meal...the student frequently declines and goes without eating. I have witnessed this myself in multiple schools, including today."
Velasquez told the board and attendees that on an average day this year about 180 students are at the cutoff for regular meals while staff serve only 23 alternate lunches daily, which he said leaves about 157 students without a meal. He described a case in which a child’s meal was taken twice and later found discarded in the dining room. "This child did not eat lunch today," Velasquez said.
Why it matters: Commenters linked missed meals to student health and learning. "Students who eat breakfast at school score 17 and a half percent higher than in math," a commenter said, citing No Kid Hungry; speakers used that statistic to argue food access affects attendance and achievement.
Speakers urged the board to consider remedies such as district-funded "angel" or emergency meal funds, changes to the charge policy implementation, and improved communication with families about account rollover and payment systems. One commenter said 1,000 students who had been receiving free meals under last year’s application were no longer eligible after the district’s rollover process.
Board process and follow-up: At the start of the public-comment period the chair reiterated board rules that limit responses during public comment and noted cabinet staff were available to follow up after the meeting. The chair also read North Carolina General Statute 143-318.17 regarding removal for disruptive behavior. No formal board action on the charge policy was recorded in the meeting transcript.
The meeting transcript shows members of the UCPS cabinet seated near the board and available to address concerns raised during public comment; speakers asked the board to collaborate with cabinet staff to find budgetary or administrative solutions.
