8/3/2019 Alexander Quinones clip - Kids Meals

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M e th u e n : N o l u n c h m o n e y ? L e t t h e m e a t c h e e s e. ) .o , _

B y ALEx QUINONES S ta rti ng t hi s y ea r, a ny s tu de nt w ho~AFFWRrrER d oe s n ot b ri ng m on ey fo r lu nc h will beo ff er ed on ly . a mea l c on si st in g o f a gov -M ET HU EN - T o k ee p fro mh old in g em me nt-d on ated c he ese . sa nd wic h,th e b ag a ga in o n $ 2 0,0 00o f o uts ta nd in g fru it a nd a milk.lunch balances, the school district is "There w ill never be a tim e w hentry in g so meth in g n ew : a le ss a pp etiz- y ou r ch ild will be r efu se d a m ea l a t t hei ng m e nu f or s tu de nt s w h o f or ge t t he ir M e th u en sc ho o ls ," f oo d s er vi ce s d ir ec -money . to r W ay ne Vespa said in a letter to

p ar en ts t hi s w e .e k. '' bu t d ue to t he v as tam ou n t o f a bu se o f m ea l c ha rg es i n t hepast,' this policy is q ui te n ec es sa ry . " .V es pa ' h op es t ha t t he c hil dre n willh at e b ei ng l im it ed ' t o t he g o ve rnm en tc he es e s an dw ic h s o m uc h t ha t th e,Y 'l ln ev er f or ge t t he ir l un ch m o ne y , o r sim-ply say they forgot i t. .

"It c ou ld b e a k in d er ga rt en er , b ut h e

c ou ld still b e w ork in g th e sy ste m,"Ve spa s a id .. Vespa said that he will a ls o s en dw eekly letters to the hom es of stu-d en ts w h o c on ti nu e t o c ha rg e f or t he irl un ch es a nd n ev er p ay t he b al an ce .T he d is tric t p os te d a l os s o f $ 3 3,0 00 ,

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8/3/2019 Alexander Quinones clip - Kids Meals

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C on tinued from P age 1l ar ge ly d u e to t he f ac t t ha t d is tr tc th as fe w s tu de nts b uy in g sc ho oll un ch e s. V e sp a s ai d t ha t M e th u enis selling $1m i ll io n l es s p e r s ch o oly e ar t ha n t he a ve ra ge s ch oo l s ys -te m o f 6,000 to 7,000 s tudents .V e sp a s aid t ha t o nl y 42 percento f t h e s tu de nt s e at c afe te ri a fo od ,a nd m ost o f t ho se stu de nts a re o nf re e a n d r ed u ce d l un c h."P aid lu nc he s a re o nly 17 per-c e n t. T ha t' s a t rOC iOUS ,' "h e s a id ."P aid lu nc he s s ho uld b e 42 per-cen t." .The policy does not apply toM e th ue n H ig h S ch oo l; s in ce s tu -

den ts there are not ab le to get a Tuesday s and Thursday from 7f r ee lunch if t he y f or ge t t he ir m o n - p.m, to .9p . r n . during September toey . help paren ts fill o ut t he a pp li ca -V esp a d en ie d h e is ta rg etin g' tion, T h e d ea d li ne f or t he a p pl ic a-p o or c h il dr en w i th this p olicy . H e tio n is O yt 1 .s aid p ar en ts w h o c an no t a ff or d to V e sp a s ai d t ha t h e w a nt s kids topa y f o r t h e ir child's lunches should e bjo y t he ir m e al s a nd h as e nc ou r-u tiliz e th e fre e a nd re du ce d-p ric e a ge d lu nc hro om e mp lo ye es to g olu nc h p ro gra in , w hic h h e s aid is o ut o f t he ir w a y to g et t he m w h at-h i ghl y under u se d by p are nts a s a e ve r a va ila ble fo od i te ms th ey a skresource. V espa said that there ).are m any stu den ts w ho are eligi- ' . 1 , , - ' . , . "!"""7'"-W- ... ,,;~"7"'b le fo r th e p ro gram , b ut w ho sep a re n ts n e ve r fill o u t t he a p pl ic a-t io n o r f o rg e t to reapply each yea r .T o i nc re as e p a rt ic ip a ti on i n t hef re e ' a nd r educ ed . lu n c h' p r og r am ,V esp a w ill c on du ct w ork sh op s

i M E T H U E N : To wn aim s to thwart school lunch deadbeatsf or . B u t if a stu den t w alk s in to ac af ete ri a, a sk in g fo r t he g ov er n-mentcheesesandwich?In th at e ve nt, V es pa jo ke d th ekid sho uld ju st k eep h is m one y. a n d h e 'l l g e t t he s an dw ic h .Staff writer Alex Q uin on es m aybe contacted b Y plume at ( 978 ) 94 6-2000, or bye-mail ataquinones@eaglet r ibune.com.

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mailto:aquinones@eagletribune.com.mailto:aquinones@eagletribune.com.