Jacob Lynn Denied School Meals Until Parents Pay $2.75 Debt

Eleven-year-old British pupil, Jacob Lynn, has been refused school meals until his parents pay the school the $2.75 debt they owe.

This UK story sounds very similar to the school meal scenario that happened at a Massachusetts middle school.

The preteen was in a flood of tears as kitchen staff denied him his school meal.

According to the Paignton primary school, the kitchen staff were simply “abiding by the rules” by enforcing this.

However, not all the staff seemed able to withstand seeing Jacob Lynn in distress.

Gary Lynn, Jacob’s father, had this to say on the matter:

“He went to sit down and one of the mealtime assistants brought over an apple because she felt sorry for him. I was completely outraged. I hadn’t had any teacher come to tell me there was an issue. I found it horrific.”

Normally, Mr. Lynn puts money on his son’s account in advance in an attempt to try to avoid this type of situation.

However, he hadn’t realised that the account had run dry.

Continuing in an interview with the BBC, Mr. Lynn explained the normal procedures of the school’s meal system:

“They normally phone parents to let them know that their account doesn’t have any money, and that their child won’t get a lunch that day unless the account is credited […] I hold my hand up. I usually put £10 on at a time. That’s my fault. But for them to take that course of action with my son seems incredible.”

Luckily Mr Lynn didn’t have to deal with West Virginian politicians who believe that children should work for their school meals.

Despite claims made by Jacob Lynn’s outraged parents, the statement the school released tells a completely different story:

“Significant numbers of previous occurrences of late payments and bad debts on school meals,”

The statement also said:

“Mr. and Mrs. Lynn were notified on three occasions prior to the mealtime of interest that their debt was due and that their son would not receive a meal if the debt remained unpaid.”

Hopefully, the matter will be resolved shortly; otherwise it seems that Jacob Lynn will be moving schools very shortly.

[Image via Wikimedia Commons]