PRESS RELEASE FOR MERLE T. RUTLEDGE JR CAMPAIGN FOR GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA 2021 FOR THE REPUBLICAN NOMINATION ON SCHOOL CHOICE
Pictured: Merle Rutledge Jr and Ben Loyola
First of all, we need to support our teachers who have had to re-invent themselves during this COVID pandemic. I’ve seen videos of teachers dancing on zoom to keep their first graders attention during class. I applaud that kind of teacher and recommend them for thinking outside of the box. Many of our teachers fit that mold.
However, some students are not so fortunate. This pandemic has made it clear that we need to re-think public education works for one student doesn’t work for every student. In some classrooms, the teacher is not able to engage every student rather than expect that, we have a choice. Rather than dictate what classroom each student must be in, the student should have a choice. Just like parents choose a doctor or a dentist that they think will help their children, parents should be able to choose the school or the teacher for their children.
This pandemic has taught us that there are multiple ways for students to learn. Some need to learn while their bodies Some need it to be quiet and to be alone. Others need to be in a classroom with other students. Why can’t we have different kinds of classrooms with different kinds of teachers with different kinds of curriculum? And why can’t students and parents figure out which type of classroom works best for their student? Let’s provide a mechanism for parents to choose their teachers, classrooms, and receive a voucher to put their child in that right classroom.
For those kids that have poor parental support, they need this more than the child whose parents are engaged with the Guidance counselors and principles can help find the right class or school for each child. If Joey’s only meal is the lunch school, then his only classroom should be the one that best enhances his chance to get out of the poverty cycle. He doesn’t need to be forced into a box that won’t fit for his learning style. In American there are many children living beneath the lines. Let’s create a “best for each child” system, rather than a protect the status quo system that watches some students, because they can’t learn outside the box. Rutledge also believes in tax credits for school supplies for in person learning for parents. This should the same with students with special educational needs they deserve chance of the same education that the general education.
Lastly, PTA meetings allows parents to address their concerns about on these topics however, it’s up to the parent to get involved in their child education and to make their voices heard. The parents still have the right to say what is best for their child involving their educational needs. Parents must be willing to go to their State legislative office and demand a change in the school systems. Without fear of any consequences knowing that we are fighting for a worthy cause – their child education.
BS. Ministerial Leadership
PICTURE ABOVE IS MERLE RUTLEDGE JR PRESS SECRETARY SHAUNDRA RICHARdsON
Press Secretary for Merle T. Rutledge Jr Gubernatorial Campaign for the Republican Nomination
There is a young black man and woman in school right now making straight A’s and doing a outstanding job in school and in the community. She will never be put on the front page of a newspaper in this area for there accomplishments, but someone in jail or charged with crimes (murder, rape, or lengthy sentences) is considered a headline or front page article in this area. If they do good in a sport and not academics than they may make it into the newspaper for their letter of intent in the sports section. It sets the tone that we are mules for sports and our minds are not of importance.
To put a front page article of a strong mind is more dangerous to society than one that will never continue to contribute to it. This is the seed or racism and generational discrimination by a hidden message that shallow thinkers will accept and deeper minds will always reject. The reason for this is they do not want their own kinds, alongside others, to respected and accept others as law abiding citizens in the City or County. There would be no news to buy if drama is not in the cycle. However, they rather report nothing good in their eyes, no matter how positive, can come or be from the black community. The same goes for the front page article of the head of a department or corporation that is on the front page of your local newspaper for their company achievement, but will never mention the names of its employees that manufactured its glory and iconic image.
The only reason why people fear us is because it is the only thing published. The common response is that I haven’t heard anything to change my mind. The bad thing is that they are correct, but also they are in their world of ignorance, because they failed to challenge themselves to see if what is being written/said is fact of a entire population. A small negative subset is not appropriate to use as a fact that represents a positive population. The world is full of good and bad people from all backgrounds and ethnicities. You can form your own conclusion, which is your fundamental right, but fictional research will never outweigh or be accepted as fact. There is many that create theories but it is always someone waiting to destroy that theory with a law. A theory has yet to be disproven to that individual. A law can never be disproven because it is fact about the population. The newspaper is full of theory, but the way you handle yourself in society is a fact. So why are you buying their newspaper to fund the trend.
PublicFriendsOnly MeCustomClose FriendsDan River High SchoolSee all lists…Merle T. Rutledge Jr Mayoral Campaign for the Town of Chatham 2012Chatham, Virginia AreaNorfolk State UniversityFamilyAcquaintancesGo Back
School starts at the Home! After my lengthy investigation into the cause and effect of mold in the household. I was made aware of the side effects in a more extensive manner early this morning. Children ability to learn while being healthy is at risk. I do fault some parents that have lived in these conditions and have done absolutely nothing about it in fear of being evicted. I repeat this “You can not be evicted for reporting a hazardous condition” for all the dumb ass parents out there that still live in these conditions and have not sought out basic corrective action. Sickle cell, asthma, and other respiratory and cancerous illnesses is the result of this mold. This mold is than brought into the classrooms, whether by clothes or just by the illness that spreads from one youth to the next. We talk about the violence and the problems in school. Well, we all need to address the issues at home. Stop being a victim and letting your kids… that do not know better suffer. Go to the hospital if you are expose to mold. Do not move your furniture, clothes, or personal items that have mold in it to the next apartment. Make sure you report mold to the apartment people and do not accept mold from food in common areas as a statement of your fault by the apartment complex. You have a right to be fully aware of your vested interest and also make a report to your renters insurance to properly have your matter investigated and resolved. Make sure all notices are done in writing and ask for a copy for your own personal records. Once again, do not be a idiot and let your kids be a idiot for your mistakes. There are parents that I feel have no fault because they did not know what to do. I am talking about the parents that have been told what to do but stay in those conditions because they scared. It is no excuse. Below is the landlord tenant act and click/read it. http://www.dhcd.virginia.gov/HomelessnesstoHomeownership/PDFs/Landlord_Tenant_Handbook.pdfSee More
Merle Rutledge
5 minutes ago
“A man that is armed with a book that knows when and how to use a gun will always be tougher than a idiot that doesn’t know when it is time to pull the trigger!” Quote Merle T. Rutledge Jr response to NRA, “The only way to stop a bad man with a gun, is with a good guy with one is dumb!
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“Your enemies are trying to keep you thinking that you are free in their way, while still pursuing you into not thinking that you are in jails, their way! The more freedom that you see, the more oppression that you dont see! Education, knowledge, and the constant need for information makes us all even.” by Merle T. Rutledge Jr
“Your enemies are trying to keep you thinking that you are free in their way, while still pursuing you into not thinking that you are in jails, their way! The more freedom that you see, the more oppression that you dont see! Education, knowledge, and the constant need for information makes us all even.” by Merle T. Rutledge Jr
Gingrich and Romney, who both support a military-only version of the Dream Act, also addressed the conference on Friday Jan 27, 2012. Gingrich said he supports a guest worker program, as well as letting communities decide if they want to provide legal status to some illegal immigrants who already have deep ties to the country.
Merle T. Rutledge Jr responds, “My problem in general with Gingrich and Romney stance on the dream act is that they would rather put a gun in a immigrants hand instead education and a book. Which of the two is more dangerous to our safety the uneducated immigrant with a gun, instead of the production of a much needed resource of a educated mind with a gun.”
I perfer the gun in the hand with someone that is educated to know how and when to use the gun instead of someone that will only learn how to kill with one. We have seen all races that have had uneducated individuals with guns use them for reasons that are not legal or even justified. If they probably had a mandate on being educated before being able to carry a gun than having them go to college and than go into the military would build stronger leaders, soldiers, and American citizens.
For example: The French had Afghanistan with citizens not educated in knowing that the French troops are there to help them, ended up firing and killing the French after joining the coalition. There only education was the Taliban 101 acourse. Maybe if they spent more time being educated than they would have learned the difference between a friend and a deadly enemy.
I do believe there should be a mandate on gun safety before the purchase of any gun. I believe it should cover open carry as well as conceal weapons permit. This would at least give Americans a better prospective on knowing that its citizens got proper training and did not just walk in to a gun shop for the purchase of robbery and murder. We all have a right to bear arms and have protection. However, The people deserve to have people that have this right fully knowleagable of the rules, regulations, and laws that govern its use.
Merle Rutledge vs Norfolk, Va School Lunch Program and the Winner is the Norfolk Youth!
Posted by Merle T. Rutledge Jr on December 28, 2011 at 3:00am
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Re: Communications & Media Relations – Norfolk Public Schools Feedback Form
Inbox
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fb4nps
Fri, Dec 9, 2011 at 8:42 AM
To: “merletrutledge@gmail.com”
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Mr. Rutledge,
Thank you for bringing this information to our attention. I will personally see to it that our Interim Superintendent and our Director of School Nutrition receive this without delay.
Name : Merle Rutledge
Email Address : merletrutledge@gmail.com
Neighborhood : Big concern
Comments : To: City of Norfolk, Va, Chairman Kirk Houston, City of Norfolk Public Schools, and Council Members
Hello, My name is Merle Travis Rutledge Jr. On Dec 8, 2011, My friend had a discussion about a lunch issue with her daughter over the phone with a Larchmont faculty supervisor, for the cafeteria staff name Henry Brown. I’m not sure of his position exactly, but I am certain that he brought up a very important issue that has been going on with the Norfolk Public Schools. He admitted that the Norfolk Public Schools, as well as himself, have a history and pattern of not mailing out lunch modification forms to children’s parents; which is part of the free lunch program, in order for children to receive proper nourishment while attending school.
Our kids in our schools, no matter their background or ethnicity, should be provided a decent lunch while attending school. This is a integral part of the learning process that is being overlooked in our schools. If you have been around someone that is hungry than they are obvious people that you don’t want to be around at that particular time, because of their mannerisms and attitude. It is a lot different when they are healthy and have had a good meal. The attitude and their focus on detail is a lot more precise and accurate. My point is that there should be more funding to provide for those youth that has parents struggling to put food on the table and a roof on their head, to have assistance. However, if they are approved of assistance, than notice should be mailed to them asking for any updates, information, or whatever that is needed from the schools to them for a proper response. A child fed will achieve better grades, focus, and improvement in their academic, as well as extracurricular achievements.
Im very concerned about the Due Process rights of parents and children in Norfolk Public Schools to have lunch, and not have changes made to their lunch program, until the parents have been served notice and have had a chance to respond to the notice. Henry Brown, which may not be the most experience spokesperson for the Norfolk Public Schools in responded to a parents complaint stated that he had “prior and constructive knowledge†and their has been many complaints from the thousands of parents about changes made to students lunch meal without receiving any notice. The first notice is when a child gets a grilled cheese sandwich, instead of a proper lunch from cafeteria staff. Their needs to be immediate changes with undue delay and done with due diligence by the City of Norfolk, and the Norfolk Public Schools to suspend the practice of making modifications to children lunches without notifying the parents of any changes.
was not upset about a balance, but the fact that a balance was put on her account without notice that changes had been made to her status in the lunch program. This is the worse kind of due process violation that can be done. Even welfare recipients are allowed due process before any immediate changes can be made to their benefits. The Norfolk Public Schools has been ran into the ground as of lately in the media and by losing the public faith to exercise in the best interest of the kid.
A teacher in Norfolk Public Schools talks about raising a white flag in surrender, as a solution to the problems with the school system and the behavior of our youth. She would know better than to say that about her Norfolk Public School employers. Im asking for her immediate termination, and I believe her name is Ms. Holliwell, but I will make sure to forward the proper name. She used too small of a sample in order to generalize a population. The article was publish in the newspaper of Norfolk Teachers raises white flag. Maybe she should note a majority of Norfolk youth graduate from high school, compared to her overgeneralization that Norfolk Public Schools is a place for quitters. If she has gotten to the point of quitting on children, than she has lost her focus to be a teacher. The kids deserve better, and if they got better, than they will do better. Im hoping, the City looks into this matter, and possibly look into taking over the Norfolk Public Schools, because it seems that they can’t teach themselves how to conduct business. The number is ________, and I hope it is follow up on this issue, and a letter of apology and the problem resolved with the upmost consideration. should __________ have never had to go through the inconvenience Mr. Brown and the Norfolk, VA Public Schools has put her and her daughter through!
Honestly I can’t believe a City of Norfolk Public School employee would state that there is a pattern and a failure to hire, train, supervise, and discipline his own employees. This is a classic case of liability and also note that he had prior and constructive knowledge that numerous complaints was made by parents for the failure to provide notice on the same matter that ______complaint rests upon. I do not even work for the Norfolk Public Schools, but I know better as supervisor or a “decision maker,†than to put all the elements for a cause of action to the other side. The burden of having notes or a citation in the folder that he was going over while __________ was on the phone should have had at least the time and date in which notices was sent out.
Thank you for your time,
Merle T. Rutledge Jr
m
Merle T. Rutledge Jr
Contact Phone Number (optional) ________________
Date & Time Sent: December 8, 2011 – 9:59:46 pm Eastern
Mail Originated From: ip72-218-104-98.hr.hr.cox.net (72.218.104.98)
Due Process concerns in public schools with the lunch program [Incident: 111208-000025]
Inbox
Department of Education
Fri, Dec 9, 2011 at 11:48 AM
To: merletrutledge@gmail.com
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Recently you requested personal assistance from our on-line support
center. Below is a summary of your request and our response.
If this issue is not resolved to your satisfaction, you may reopen it
within the next 14 days.
Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you.
Subject
—————————————————————
Due Process concerns in public schools with the lunch program
Discussion Thread
—————————————————————
Response Via Email(AskArne) – 12/09/2011 12:48 PM
Dear Mr. Rutledge,
Thank you for contacting the United States Department of Education through AskArne@ed.gov.
Education is primarily a state and local responsibility in the U.S. In creating the Department of Education, Congress made clear its intention that the secretary of education and other Department officials be prohibited from exercising “any direction, supervision, or control over the curriculum program of instruction, administration, or personnel of any educational institution, school, or school system.” The establishment of schools and colleges, the development of curricula, the setting of requirements for enrollment and graduation – these are responsibilities handled by states and communities, not by the U.S. Department of Education.
Therefore, you should share this information with the State Department of Education. Your state can be reached with the following contact information:
Virginia Department of Education
Dr. Patricia I. Wright, Superintendent
P.O. Box 2120
James Monroe Building
101 North 14th Street
Richmond, VA 23218-2120
Phone: (804) 225-2023
Email: Patricia.Wright@doe.virginia.gov
Website: http://www.doe.virginia.gov/
Additionally, the National School Lunch Program is overseen by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). You may also wish to contact their office with the following:
National School Lunch Program
US Department of Agriculture
Phone: (703) 305-2062
Food & Nutrition Service
3101 Park Center Drive
Alexandria, VA 22302 http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/lunch/
Sincerely,
United States Department of Education
400 Maryland Ave, SW, LBJ
Washington, DC 20202-0498
(800) USA-LEARN
Customer By Email – 12/08/2011 10:25 PM
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FW: Kim FW: David’s (Norfolk) Due Process Concern with School Lunch Program
Inbox
Harmon, James – FNS
Thu, Dec 22, 2011 at 11:54 AM
To: “merletrutledge@gmail.com”
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Mr. Rutledge,
This responds to your December 9, 2011 email to Ellen Shannon regarding your concern about due process in the School Lunch Program in Norfolk City Public Schools.
We contacted the Virginia Department of Education who in turn spoke with representatives of Norfolk Public Schools. Due to confidentiality restrictions, we cannot provide you with specific details regarding the student in question. But, here is some general information about Norfolk Public School’s policies provided by the Food Service Director.
The school division uses last year’s eligibility (if applicable) for the first thirty school days or until the parent submits a new application. The thirty-day grace period eligibility expired on October 18, 2011. [Federal rules require school divisions to provide the 30 school days of carryover eligibility or until a new application is submitted].
All families receive a meal application by mail every school year the third week of August. Applications are available in every school office, in the cafeteria and online. Notification of the expiration of the grace period and need for parents to complete a new application was made via telephone calls by the school district automated call system. Each home with students was called whose eligibility was about to change from free or reduced to full price. Calls were made to all homes on October 11, 2011.
If the household has not submitted an application and is not “directly certified” (determined to receive SNAP/VA TANF benefits), then they must begin to pay full price for meals after the expiration of the 30 days carryover.
The Norfolk School Nutrition program allows full price elementary students to charge up to $5.00 if they do not have lunch money. (Reduced price eligible students could be charged 40 cents for lunch, however, Norfolk chooses to provide meals to these students at no charge.) When full price students have charged meals (owe money), charge slips for these students are placed in teacher mail boxes each day. When the $5.00 limit is exceeded, the student is provided with an alternative meal. These policies are consistent with Federal rules as long as the policy is consistently applied.
A full price student may submit an application at any time; school division staff must promptly review submitted applications and approve eligible students. Households are provided notification by mail when their child is approved for free meals. Eligibility is not retroactive, it starts when the application is approved by school officials.
I trust that this addresses your concerns from the Federal perspective. If_________, the child’s guardian, has specific questions about her child, I suggest she contact Helen Phillips, the food service director, at 757.628.2760 .
Sincerely,
James E. Harmon
Regional Director
Special Nutrition Programs
USDA, Food and Nutrition Service
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MERLE RUTLEDGE
Thu, Dec 22, 2011 at 12:52 PM
To: ______________________-
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– Show quoted text –
MERLE RUTLEDGE
Thu, Dec 22, 2011 at 1:02 PM
To: “Harmon, James – FNS”
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Dear Mr. Harmon,
I already understood the very sensitive nature in regards to this
issue. When it was addressed to me than I fully try to relay the
concerns to the right department in order to get a timely response
back, as well as, let the “decision makers” know with prior and
constructive knowledge that it maybe a issue that needs to have some
follow up. It is a confidential matter, and I do appreciate the
information in the response that you sent back to me. I’m sure _________
looks forward to getting the correct information so future
incidents like this can be avoided. However, it is important that
matters like this, no matter who has been presented with this issue,
know that it maybe a problem. It is our best defense to ongoing
issues and making sure the public know that matters of importance will
be addressed by the right individuals and agencies that are in control
of this very vital program in all of our Public Schools.
Thank you for your time,
Merle T. Rutledge Jr
Civil Rights Activist
Norfolk, Va 23503
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Dear Mr. Merle Travis Rutledge, Jr.
I am responding to your e-mail dated December 8, 2011, to the Virginia
Department of Education. Since you have identified yourself as Merle T. Rutledge Jr
, I am not at liberty to provide details to you
regarding her daughter’s eligibility for the school lunch program due to
privacy laws. However, _____________as a parent or legal guardian may
contact the school division’s school nutrition director. Her contact
information follows:
Helen E. Phillips, SNS
President, School Nutrition Association
Senior Director, School Nutrition Norfolk Public Schools
974 Bellmore Avenue
Norfolk, VA 23504
757.628.2760
hphillips@npsk12.com
I am also providing the contact information for our Office of School
Nutrition Programs (SNP) who can address general questions regarding the
SNP.
Ms. Catherine Digilio-Grimes, Director
School Nutrition Programs
Virginia Department of Education
Catherine.Digilio-Grimes@doe.virginia.gov
Sincerely,
Tom
Thomas W. Broyles, CPA, CGFM
Director of Business and Risk Management
Virginia Department of Education
P.O. Box 2120
Richmond, Virginia 23218-2120
Telephone: (804) 371-0028
Fax: (804) 371-2099
thomas.broyles@doe.virginia.gov
– Show quoted text –
Sazo, Michele – FNS
Mon, Dec 12, 2011 at 10:44 AM
To: “merletrutledge@gmail.com”
Cc: “Shannon, Ellen – FNS”
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Dear Mr. Rutledge,
This responds to the complaint that you filed regarding the operation of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) within the Norfolk, Virginia Public Schools. Your complaint was received in this office today, December 12, 2011. Based upon the information provided in your complaint, we have determined that this matter is more appropriately handled by our regional program staff.
The Civil Rights Office has the responsibility and the authority to process complaints of discrimination based on race, color, national origin, age, sex and disability involving the NSLP. Since your complaint specifically pertains to NSLP but is not based on one of the abovementioned protected classes, we have forwarded it to:
James Harmon, Regional Director
Special Nutrition Programs
USDA, Food and Nutrition Service
Mercer Corporate Park
300 Corporate Blvd
Robbinsville, NJ 08691
You can expect to be contacted soon regarding your concerns. Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention.
Michele Sazo
USDA, Food and Nutrition Service
Mid-Atlantic Region
Tel: (609) 259-5061
Fax: (609) 259-5027
Email: michele.sazo@fns.usda.gov
– Show quoted text –
Acourse, Merle Rutledge made this complaint known to all these federal, state, and local officials and than they come out with a article addressing the issue for the whole Hampton Roads area. This is when you know a school system was clearly wrong. Merle Rutledge made the Norfolk, VA School Board aware of the issue on Dec 8, 2011, and the whole Hampton Roads area school system had to be held accountable to everyone for possible Due Process Violations on Dec 26, 2011 with the article below. Rutledge states, “ I fought them all the way to the end and all the emails and officials that responded are the ones for parents to go to if they have any issues facing the lunch program in your schools. I heard and saw a issue that was clearly wrong and made sure they went about trying to correct the problem. This article means Norfolk, Va public schools are covering themselves in the future for those that may have not gotten notice. Acourse newspaper publication is considered adequate notice, but they should have done this a long time ago.”
Lean times bring surge in free school lunches
Posted to: EducationNews
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More than one in three children across South Hampton Roads qualify for free school meals, including Elliott and Amy Tyson’s three children: Ashlynn Walker, 14, Autumn Tyson, 8, and Elliott Tyson Jr., 6, shown at their Suffolk home on Saturday, Dec. 24, 2011. Though the total area school enrollment has shrunk, the number of children who qualify has risen by almost 9,000 students in the past four years. (Vicki Cronis-Nohe | The Virginian-Pilot)
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by the numbers
The latest state data show that 60,192 local students qualified for free lunches in 2010-11, representing nearly 35 percent of all local students. Four years earlier, 28.5 percent qualified.
the programs
School divisions aren’t required to be part of the federal lunch program, but all of Virginia’s 132 public systems participate. Schools get partial reimbursement from the federal government for the free and reduced-price meals.
eligibility for free lunch
To qualify, a family of three could earn no more than $23,803 annually last year. In 2006-07, the figure was $21,580.
red flag
Student poverty rates parallel lower test scores, which can drag down a school’s ability to earn accreditation. Even with food assistance, lower-income students’ achievement may suffer as parents are forced to work multiple jobs to make ends meet.
Poll
Should schools expand their free and reduced meal programs to include breakfast and weekends?
Background
Disclaimer: This is an unscientific sampling of users.
More than a third of all children in South Hampton Roads public schools, about 60,000, now qualify for free lunches, a poverty index that’s seen nearly 9,000 more students become eligible as the economy hit incomes hard in the past five years.
From the most to the least affluent, each of the region’s five cities saw an increase in free-lunch eligibility, according to a Virginian-Pilot analysis of state data.
Norfolk and Portsmouth continue to have the highest percentages of eligible students compared with total enrollment, but other cities saw marked surges as well. For example, eligibility rose fastest in Chesapeake, where 33.5 percent more children qualified in 2010-11 than in 2006-07.
Eligibility is based on household income. To qualify, a family of three could earn no more than $23,803 annually last year. In 2006-07, the figure was $21,580.
The increase in that figure may have qualified more families, but school administrators, some surprised to learn about The Pilot’s findings, say the main reason for the surge lies elsewhere.
“Certainly, the obvious one is the economic times,” said Sheila Magula, deputy superintendent of Virginia Beach schools, where 23.5 percent of students qualified for free lunches last year, compared with 20.6 percent in 2006-07.
The lunch statistics might not even account for every child whose family is eligible, she said, because some families won’t come forward.
“One, they don’t believe in asking for assistance; they have a great deal of pride,” she said. “The other reason is, they may not feel comfortable in approaching the system and don’t know how to go about doing that, even though the schools make the information available.”
School leaders say it’s important that struggling families come forward. For schools, the surge in free-lunch statistics can be a red flag – student poverty rates parallel lower test scores, which can drag down a school’s ability to earn accreditation.
“The evidence that poverty has a huge impact on student achievement is just very, very clear,” said Linda Irwin-Devitis, dean of the Darden College of Education at Old Dominion University.
In her research, she’s compared third-grade reading scores in Norfolk schools against census maps of the city showing income levels for school neighborhoods.
“The overlap, the correlation, is incredibly high between high poverty and schools that are not having more than 75 percent of their students pass,” she said. The state generally requires schools to have a 75 percent pass rate on Standards of Learning tests to get accredited.
It’s not hard to understand why going without food hurts children’s ability to learn, said Gay Thomas, social services coordinator for Virginia Beach schools.
“If you’re a little kid, you don’t have food and are hungry, you’re going to have a hard time paying attention,” she said. “You may be irritable, or it may start to look like behavioral problems.”
Still, the free and reduced-price school meals are simply a supplement, not a complete replacement, for what a child needs.
“Think about a kid who hasn’t had anything to eat since Friday lunch – she comes in Monday and gets breakfast, but she still has that growling belly,” Thomas said.
School divisions aren’t required to be part of the federal lunch program, but all of Virginia’s 132 public systems participate, said Catherine Digilio-Grimes, the state’s school nutrition director.
To be included, divisions must send an application at the start of the school year to every family with a child in the school system.
Virginia’s schoolchildren are automatically enrolled for free or reduced-price lunches if their family receives food stamps or public assistance known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Both programs have income-eligibility requirements.
Elliott Tyson Sr., 34, said he met the free-lunch income guidelines even before the hauling company he worked for as a driver and equipment operator tanked two years ago with the construction industry’s nosedive.
“Free school lunches is a blessing,” said Tyson, whose three children attend Suffolk public schools. Tyson, who is unemployed and recovering from leg surgery, said the family depends on his wife’s biweekly take-home pay of $450 as a Walmart worker, state assistance and health care via Medicaid.
“It’s kind of hard coming up with gas money, electricity money, homeowner’s insurance,” he said. The free lunches, as well as school breakfasts, save him about $150 a month at the rate of $12.50 a week per child.
Some school leaders were surprised to learn of the increase in students eligible to receive free lunch – the statistics can easily be overlooked, given the programs’ low impact on budgets. School food programs typically don’t require local taxpayer money.
Schools get partial reimbursement from the federal government for the free and reduced-price meals.
“I was very surprised to see such a high percentage of Norfolk children qualify for the free lunch program,” said Brad Robinson, who joined Norfolk’s School Board in July.
Robinson said that if parents are struggling to provide food, shelter and utilities, “it can only mean that school may not be the highest priority. Unfortunately, we as a school system have a limited amount of direct influence over rising poverty levels – but education is the ultimate answer.”
Helen Phillips, Norfolk’s school nutrition supervisor, blamed the recession for the increase: 56.3 percent of the city’s public school students qualified for free lunches last year, compared with 46.4 percent five years earlier.
“We’re feeding more children now than before the economy took a downturn,” she said. “They’re moving out of the full-price or reduced categories, and into the reduced or free category.”
The data support Phillips’ view: The number of students qualifying for reduced lunch increased over the past five years, too, though at a slower rate. Regionwide, 11,766 students had family incomes low enough to qualify for reduced-price lunches last year.
As the free and reduced-lunch rosters have swelled across the region, so has the number of people seeking help from the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia, said Renee Figurelle, the food bank’s chief operating officer.
“The number of people we’re serving here in the last three years has increased, I think, 66 percent,” she said. “The economy has just rocked these individuals.”
In 2008, the food bank began providing some schools food to give to students for weekend meals. “We’ve actually had principals come to us saying, ‘We have to do something on the weekend – we have kids running off the bus to get breakfast Monday mornings because they haven’t had a good meal all weekend,’ ” Figurelle said.
The weekend food bags now supply more than 2,600 children at 43 schools in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk and elsewhere. “We have schools on our waiting list, and schools that would like more bags,” Figurelle said.
Even with food assistance, lower-income students’ achievement may suffer as parents are forced to work multiple jobs to make ends meet, according to Virginia Beach School Board Chairman Dan Edwards.
“I think it’s about the ability of the parents to devote time to their children when a household is financially stressed,” he said. Such parents aren’t there to help with homework or motivate children by showing open interest in their schooling.
In Chesapeake, School Board Chairman Harry Murphy called the bigger free-lunch roster a symbol and result of the bad economy and unemployment. Last year, 27.3 percent of students qualified for free lunch, compared with 19.3 percent five years earlier.
Murphy and officials in other divisions said some parents may see a stigma in enrolling students in the meal program. But children receiving free lunch blend in at school cafeterias because they, like all students, use meal cards or PIN codes in lunch lines.
Murphy said he recommends that eligible families take advantage of the program.
“You wouldn’t think saving a dollar a day or so makes that much difference, but over 180 days, that’s $180 a family could use” for a utility bill or other essential, he said. “I advise any parent who needs it to use it.”
Pilot writer Meghan Hoyer contributed to this report.
Steven G. Vegh, (757) 446-2417 , steven.vegh@pilotonline.com
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DATABASE | Search the database by city or school to find out how many students are receiving free school lunches and how the percentage has changed.
The City of Portsmouth, Va has stopped cheese sandwiches as a free meal and will give students lunch. This article follows the reporting from Steven G. Vegh
Superintendent David Stuckwisch has put an end to the cold cheese sandwich lunches doled out to students whose cafeteria accounts are running in the red after School Board members called the practice demeaning.
In Portsmouth, the bagged lunches – a cheese sandwich, fruit and milk – were distributed by teachers before lunch hour to elementary students who had already charged three meals, or $4.05, to their accounts.
The meal – some variation of which is distributed in the other four school divisions of South Hampton Roads – ensured that no child went without lunch on any school day.
On Friday, those students started receiving regular lunch-line meals, and Stuckwisch said he would review other options and report to the School Board on Feb. 23.
At the last board meeting, member Costella Williams said the bagged-lunch program singled students out in front of their peers and punished children for their parents’ lack of payment.
“How is that a deterrent, when it’s not the child’s responsibility to pay and they’re not the ones working and earning an income?” she said.
Member Mark Whitaker called the bag lunch not an incentive, but an embarrassment. He added that the sandwiches carry a historical stigma because large blocks of surplus U.S. Department of Agriculture cheese were distributed to poor people years ago through government programs.
Board member Elizabeth Daniels called on the division to eliminate the practice, known as the “You Left Your Lunch at Home” program, and give children the same lunch-line meal that other students get – while pursuing parents with threats of court action if they don’t ensure that children get fed.
Divisions have to eat the expense of the bagged lunches – 64 cents each in Portsmouth – because the meals are not eligible for reimbursement from the federal government. The government subsidizes regular-price, reduced-price and free school lunches. A regular school lunch is $1.35 in Portsmouth.
Under current practice in Portsmouth, children are informed when their lunch accounts are empty, and cafeteria managers call parents about the unpaid balance. In kindergarten through the third grade, paper receipts for the balance are given to teachers to send home with children.
Once students started receiving bagged lunches, cafeteria managers sent charge-notification letters to the students’ homes, as well as applications for the free and reduced-price lunch program.
If a child received the bagged lunch for 10 consecutive days, the principal and the Student Services department were notified, and a school representative of Child Protective Services could visit the parent at home.
Portsmouth originally resorted to the cheese sandwiches to slash ballooning unfunded-lunch charges.
Nita Mensia-Joseph, the division’s director of operations, told the board that it had approved the arrangement after children with no lunch money racked up $68,000 in cafeteria charges in 2007-08.
Since the cheese-sandwich program was adopted, the division has seen fewer unpaid charges: They totaled $1,603 in 2010-11, Mensia-Joseph said.
Division statistics show that a daily average of 172 bagged lunches have been provided this year among the 8,977 students in the 15 grade schools.
Within schools, the daily average ranges from none at Mount Hermon and Olive Branch to 35 at Park View.
For some board members, even one is too many.
Williams said a Churchland Elementary teacher told her that “it was such an emotional thing for the students to get these cheese sandwiches, that she refused and bought them lunch.”
“There is a stigma to the cheese sandwich,” Williams said.
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