US schools will serve only jam sandwiches to students who owe lunch money

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A school district in Rhode Island has announced it will only serve jam sandwiches to students who owe money towards their lunch accounts.

The policy, effective Monday, immediately sparked outrage from parents and Facebook users after Warwick Public Schools announced it in a post earlier this week.

“In accordance with Warwick School Committee Policy EFB; Effective Monday, May 13, 2019, if money is owed on a paid, free, or reduced lunch account a sun butter and jelly sandwich will be given as the lunch choice until the balance owed is paid in full or a payment plan is set up through the food service office,” the district wrote in its announcement.

Rhode Island is current considering a bill that would require schools to provide all students with free hot lunches, regardless of income.

Warwick school officials have turned down multiple offers from a local restaurant owner to pay down the district’s debt due to outstanding lunch payments, the Associated Press reported, saying in a statement that all of its students must be treated equally.

The officials recommended the restaurant owner instead offer students applications for donations, and have also suggested families in need apply for the school’s free or reduced lunch programmes.

Warwick Public Schools serves over 9,000 students from pre-kindergarten to grade 12.

The school’s committee chairwoman Karen Bachus defended the decision in an interview with NBC News, saying officials had opted to allow students to receive an item on the school lunch menu rather than a lower-quality meal.

"Before we used to give a cheese sandwich which did single them out, but now we've gone with an on-the-menu meal," she said. "So what's wrong with that?"

Nearly 75 per cent of US school report some form of debt due to outstanding lunch payments between 2016 and 2017, the non-profit School Nutrition Association has reported.