PARENTS were sent a “threatening” letter warning their kids could be put in foster care over unpaid school lunches.
Around 1,000 pupils owed money on their lunch accounts in the Wyoming Valley West School District in Pennsylvania, US, reports claim.
So the school district fired off warning letters, telling parents they could be taken to court and even have their children taken away.
The letter told parents that there had been “multiple letters sent home with your child” and that no payments had been made.
“Your child has been sent to school every day without money and without a breakfast and/or lunch,” the letter states.
“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.”
It was signed by Joseph Muth, director of the district’s federal programs, who described the letter as a “last resort”.
He told WNEP the district is owed more than $22,000 (£17,650) by roughly 1,000 students.
Four accounts show parents owe more than $450 (£361) each, WNEP reported.
School meals in the district cost $1 to $2.70.
‘CRUEL AND BRUTAL’
Dozens of parents in the local community have blasted the decision to threaten families with foster care.
And the Luzerne County Children and Youth Services feels the agency was used to “terrorise” families.
Joanne Van Saun, who runs the local agency, said: “This to me is terrorising children and families. And it was just so unnecessary.
“We exist to protect and preserve families. The only time a child is taken out is when they cannot be maintained safely in their home,” she said.
“Our agency has helped many children and families with paying rent and buying clothes. We know children do better when they’re with their families.”
Ruth Bates, who lives in the area, branded the letters “very extreme, maybe unnecessary, maybe cruel and brutal on the government’s part”.
“I think the person that wrote that letter should think about having their children away from him and put into a foster home,” Jack Coslett said.
But Steve Spirko argued: “Nobody should go hungry. It might sound like a stiff penalty, but you should take care of your children.”
SCHOOL DISTRICT APOLOGISES
Mr Muth has since branded the letter a mistake and apologised.
He told ABC News: “The letter was over the top and should not have been sent out”.
The board’s vice president, David Usavage, said he cringed when he saw the language of the letter.
“The foster care issue, that just had me,” Mr Usavage told the station. “I couldn’t believe that that’s what it said.”
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But Charles Coslett, another board member who is also the lawyer representing the board, defended the letter and its message.
“It merely lays out the options available to the district if people continue to ignore their parental responsibility and the nutritional needs of their minor sons and daughters,” he told ABC News.
About 14% of families in the school district are below the poverty line, around 10% higher than the rate of the state of Pennsylvania, according to the Census Reporter.
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