Help please, need advice, what would you do if this happened to your child??

[Goes4ever]

After discussing this with my wife, she thought of two other problems that may or may not have been addressed.

1). Taking the tray away from a child is embarrassing and maybe form of child abuse because she is
withholding food and nutrition from a child. This is dispicable and maybe we should call Children and
Youth Services on the cafeteria worker.

2). I don't think you ever mentioned any health problems that your son has. If you child is a diabetic (or has
other health problems where a constant food supply is needed) and the food was withheld, that could
have resulted in a very serious situation for him and you.

LUCKILY for him and us he does not a health issue that skipping meals would cause him trouble. That was one of the first things I thought of myself, if he had a problem with blood sugar he could have gotten very sick from going that long w/o food.

 

[Old Dog]

Dear Mr Superintendant
SIR,
The below is part of a letter I read this morning,
It happened in one of your schools. I am so darned angry about it I will use the words of others. I don't trust mine to be civil, or evenless than profane.

well fast forward to his lunchtime.......he gets in line, gets his lunch and makes his way to the cashier, hands her his card, they swipe it and say there is no balance left, and take his lunch away from him and inform him there are NO charges allowed in the last month of school. SO HE WAS NOT ALLOWED TO EAT ANYTHING. So not only was he embarrassed to have his lunch taken away from him in front of the other kids, but he went with no food all day!
No one bothered to call my wife nor me to let us know he needed money. One of us would have ran him out money or something to eat if lunch was over.


I'll bet they threw away more food that day than he could ever eat!


Aside from all of the No Tolerance policies in the schools now days,
there is also a no child left behind policy on a national standard.
(or there is supposed to be! )

If this had been my kid I would have served you and your district with a lawsuit that would rock your world, and shake your system to the roots.

I cannot believe you would not at least have some kind of KNOWN policy in place that at least put something in front of the kid to eat.!

We entrust our children to you and to neglect one of them is a violation that needs addressing.
If any one of us as parents had made this mistake you and your teachers would have pushed neglect and abuse to the point where the child services would have been involved, with the child taken away.

Van Wert Middle School

10694 St. Rt. 118 South
Van Wert, Ohio 45891
Mary Riepenhoff, Principal
Mark Bagley, Assistant Principal
Sherry Kipson Head of Cafeteria staff

voice (419)238-0727
fax (419)238-7166


Yes sir these people will be informed of my feeling as well as Child Services.
"There is no excuse for letting even one child fall through the cracks."
Quote George Bush (President of the United States)

You sir need to do some serious house cleaning.

Sign me a concerned citizen,
Thom Ericson

 

[Goes4ever]

here is the letter my wife typed up for the paper:

Dear Editor,




Today the Van Wert Middle School sunk to an all new low. I honestly forgot to send lunch money with my son today. Sorry I know we the parents are not allowed to make mistakes. I thought he had enough money in his account for one more day. I didn't have time before work this morning to check his account on-line.




Well when he got his lunch and got to the cashier, she informed him he was out of money. Then she took his meal away from him and told him that if he did not find any money then he couldn't eat. Are you kidding me! I guess it was because they do not accept charges after May 1st (even though school doesn't get out until June), so basically they were saying “sorry go hungry.”




I guess it was to much for the school to pick up the phone and let us know that he did not have enough money in his account. Because if they would have , my husband or I would have happily ran out there and paid for his lunch. But I guess that was asking to much from the school to call us. Instead they just neglect to feed our child.




My question for them is what did they do with the meal they took from my child? My guess it went into the trash can. Why would an establishment where we send our kids daily and expect them to be taken care of behave in a manner like this? How would they feel if they found out their child was refused a meal because they were a little short on cash. When a simple phone call could have taken care of the problem. What are they doing with my tax money? How many other children are they not feeding.




According to my son this has happened to other children as well. How well would the feel or how well would the perform throughout the day if they hadn't eaten all day. Sure my son ate breakfast, but that was before he got on the bus at 6:50 am. And he did not get home until 3:50pm. That is an awfully long time to go without eating. I was shocked beyond words when my son told me of what happened.




Thank you Van Wert Middle School for taking such good care of my child!

This is totally unacceptable!!

 

[Cynangyl]

well said!

 

[Pepper2004]

This is a disgrace. No child should go hungry. Yet they do. Many days and weeks at a time. First don't get me wrong. I would have been furious if my child was denied lunch due to lack of funds. As others have stated they could hold report cards until funds are paid.

This could be turn around and made a valuable teaching tool for your son. A time to discuss World hunger. Your entire family could spend a day working in a Soup kitchen feeding the hungry. If for no other reason than to help your child feel less like a victim and more like a compassionate member of society.

I hope that letter to the editor is published!!! I will be emailing your son's school.

Peace,
Pepper

 

[Old Dog]

Here is a list of the Middle School staff and all their email addresses,
Just in case you want to "drop a note" to anyone in particular.

Thom

MIDDLE SCHOOL STAFF
Email Directory
Current as of May 07, 2008

Shirley Adelblue Secretary s_adelblue@vwcs.net

Jenny Ainsworth Language Arts j_ainsworth@vwcs.net
Rick Allen Custodian r_allen@vwcs.net
Steve Bader Physical Education s_bader@vwcs.net

Mark Bagley Principal m_bagley@vwcs.net

Melissa Bockrath Educational Aide m_bockrath@vwcs.net
Jennifer Bowen Special Ed j_bowen@vwcs.ndt
Karla Butler Science k_butler@vwcs.net
Trinda Cartwright Art t_cartwright@vwcs.net

Edward Clark Guidance Counselor e_clark@vwcs.net

Steve Clark Language Arts s_clark@vwcs.net
Kim Clifton Physical Education/Health k_clifton@vwcs.net
Ben Collins Special Ed b_collins@vwcs.net
Tina Decker Band Director t_decker@vwcs.net
Kim Doidge Math k_doidge@vwcs.net
Darla Dunlap Math d_dunlap@vwcs.net
Christine Gemmer 6th grade c_gemmer@vwcs.net
Amber Gibson Educational Aide a_gibson@vwcs.net
Chris Heizman Computer Science chris@vwcs.net
Colleen Hoghe Educational Aide c_hoghe@vwcs.net
Kathie Inniger Life Skills k_inniger@vwcs.net
John Johnson 6th grade j_johnson@vwcs.net

Vicki Keber Secretary v_keber@vwcs.net

Deborah Kelly Science d_kelly@vwcs.net
Jean Kovar Educational Aide j_kovar@vwcs.net
Kathy Long Gifted Education k_long@vwcs.net
Marie Markward Special Ed m_markward@vwcs.net
Larry McCauley Social Studies l_mccauley@vwcs.net
Lisa McGuire Educational Aide l_mcguire@vwcs.net
Brendon Moody Sixth Grade b_moody@vwcs.net
Pam Morris 6th grade p_morris@vwcs.net
Mike Myers 6th Grade m_myers@vwcs.net
Jay Prichard 6th grade j_prichard@vwcs.net
Bob Priest 7th Grade b_priest@vwcs.net
Stacia Profit DH s_profit@vwcs.net
Michael Ragan Social Studies m_ragan@vwcs.net

Mary Riepenhoff Principal m_riepenhoff@vwcs.net

Lynnet Robenalt Educational Aide l_robenalt@vwcs.net
Jay Royer Special Ed j_royer@vwcs.net
Bradley Scheidt Custodian b_scheidt@vwcs.net
Susan Semer Language Arts s_semer@vwcs.net
Bob Spath Math b_spath@vwcs.net
Jacqueline Stetler Educational Aide j_stetler@vwcs.net
Susie Stoller Language Arts s_stoller@vwcs.net
Tami Suzuki Sixth Grade t_suzuki@vwcs.net
Larry Taylor Vocal Music l_taylor@vwcs.net
Bonnie Thatcher Math b_thatcher@vwcs.net
Linda Thomas Science l_thomas@vwcs.net
Tiffany Werts Educational Aide t_werts@vwcs.net
Anita Zuber Science a_zuber@vwcs.net

 

[mrs.oroblanco]

I have written an email to the school cafeterian.

I have also just finished a hand-written letter, which I will mail when I go downtown in a little while.

Good luck - I hope this will never happen to another child.

I don't care WHAT the circumstances were - letting a child go hungry - on purpose - is endangering the welfare of that child. And, if that person will do that to one child, how many do you NOT know about?

B

 

[Bridge End Farm]

I think you all are missing the most important person to voice your concerns with. It is sad that the took the food away I would of just made a note and given it to him, pulled 2 bucks out of my pockets, or something. The child would of had chow to eat.

If your wife note makes it to the paper great but I still think you need to see your "school board offical" that represents your area. I would call an arrange a meeting with them. I would not do it over that phone. Or attend the next school board meeting and bring it up. Hey it is election year time trust me they will look into it and correct it. It to me does seem a policy needs to be changed and that will require their actions anyway. Your school could not be the onlt one this is going on at.

I guess you could consult an attorney if you like for leagal action if you wish but I think the kids lose on that. Then again sometimes you have to shake branches to get fruit to fall.

 

[COUNTRY GIRL]

The reply I got today from the school. I will call and speak with him tomarrow and then ask to speak to his supervisor, then the next and the next. He offered to speak with me, so.....I will make the call. Anyone else? E-mail is not a proper way? Was taking away a childs plate in front of their peers? Making a "Kid" go hungry? Let's make a small difference in this ? small world.

Kim,

Please call me at 238-0727. Email is not the proper forum
to discuss such an item.

Mark

Mark Bagley
Assistant Principal
Van Wert Middle School
Phone 419-238-0727
Fax 419-238-7166
Email M_Bagley@vwcs.net

 

[jeff of pa]

My guess they Will pull the

"If we let one get away with it, we will Have to do it for all"

well, big deal as long as the kids get their meals. worry about it
other ways, not at the expense of the children.

send the parents a bill.
If it isn't paid by the next Year the Kid dosn't move forward.

 

[EDDE]

bag lunch it
dont pay the school any more money
obviously they dont care about the welfare of the children
the teachers when i went to school made it a point
that THEIR kids were like their own children and cared for them in the like
was the teacher aware of this situation after he returned from lunch?

 

[mrs.oroblanco]

"not the proper"

Gee, and now THEY are being YOUR teachers too? Treating you like a child?


EEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


B

 

[Strikefleet5326s]

Not taking sides here..but some of the replies to this make it sound like the kid died or something.So they missed lunch...big deal.If yall are eating ONCE on a daily basis thats better than some.Also seems like maybe your trying to pass the buck for your own mistake ; maybe not,but I'll bet dollars to dougnuts that your child survives the unfortunate incident in outstanding order.

 

[Bridge End Farm]

The reply I got today from the school. I will call and speak with him tomarrow and then ask to speak to his supervisor, then the next and the next. He offered to speak with me, so.....I will make the call. Anyone else? E-mail is not a proper way? Was taking away a childs plate in front of their peers? Making a "Kid" go hungry? Let's make a small difference in this ? small world.

Kim,

Please call me at 238-0727. Email is not the proper forum
to discuss such an item.

Mark

Mark Bagley
Assistant Principal
Van Wert Middle School
Phone 419-238-0727
Fax 419-238-7166
Email M_Bagley@vwcs.net

he is not gonna admit fault on paper/record is my opinion is why he told you to call

 

[Goes4ever]

The reply I got today from the school. I will call and speak with him tomarrow and then ask to speak to his supervisor, then the next and the next. He offered to speak with me, so.....I will make the call. Anyone else? E-mail is not a proper way? Was taking away a childs plate in front of their peers? Making a "Kid" go hungry? Let's make a small difference in this ? small world.

Kim,

Please call me at 238-0727. Email is not the proper forum
to discuss such an item.

Mark

Mark Bagley
Assistant Principal
Van Wert Middle School
Phone 419-238-0727
Fax 419-238-7166
Email M_Bagley@vwcs.net

yep he is the one I always talk too, he is GOOD at talking in circles, real good. He is also an expert at passing he buck. Good luck getting any kind of answer out of him!


I spoke with my son today and asked him if he got his appology Mr. Bagley promised me he would give my son, my son said no he did notappologize, instead he told my son if it ever happens again for some reason to come see him and he would take care of his lunch for him. But no appology at all.

I can't wait for you to tell us what he told you.

has anyone else gotten any responses at all from anyone at the school??

 

[ivan salis]

well sadly thats as close to a " I'm sorry" as your going to get --the if it happens again see me -- and I'll fix it so you can eat --- they will say -- its "your" fault --"bad" parent for not putting money in his account on time -- they will say "if you did what you were supposed to do properly " then there would have never been a cash shortage thus no problem --so its "your" fault that this occured --and sorry by school board "policy" due to dead beat parents not paying up and then moving away after the school year ends (thus costing the school money) and the fact that they need to keep their books clear and up to date for the end of the school year that they do not allow "charges" to be made in the final month of school -- yes they were a bunch of hard hearted types -- just "doing the job" --

 

[MD Dog]

I hope you don't back down until that policy is changed because this could be someone else's child in a week, or next year or whenever. We're all going to be starving soon enough, why start early with kids. Try calling around to other parents and telling them your not interested in complaining but rather in getting the policy changed so it won't happen to someone else's child in the future. If you get enough parents together you can petition the school board.

 

[jeff of pa]

I spoke with my son today and asked him if he got his appology Mr. Bagley promised me he would give my son, my son said no he did notappologize, instead he told my son if it ever happens again for some reason to come see him and he would take care of his lunch for him. But no appology at all.

Sure, he Said this to your son in Private.

He knows odds are it won't happen with him again.

Do the other Kids Know to come to Him ?

A public apology & Directive to come to him should be made.

I hate Prisons er AH "SCHOOLS" & their attitudes

 

[eathabs]

Goes, what other "lows" has this school been involved with?

 

[Goes4ever]

well my son asked me to have him do it in private because when a kid is seen talking with the principal it is embarrassing to a kid, know what I mean? So I requested to Bagley to do it discreetly.