LEBANON, Ohio — A Middletown restaurant owner is spreading joy — and ice cream — after she donated to Lebanon City School's Donovan Elementary on Friday to pay off all outstanding school lunch balances, the non-profit Neighborhood Bridges said.
The donation from Mz. Jade's Soul Foud came after backlash was sparked by a social media post from the elementary school that detailed its "Ice Cream Friday" event.
Donovan Elementary School, which serves only third and fourth graders in the district, posted to Facebook on Thursday with information regarding its Friday event. The original post detailed multiple limitations to "Ice Cream Friday," which allows students to buy an ice cream treat for $1.
Those limitations include that all students must have money on their student account to purchase ice cream. If a student has a negative balance they will not be able to purchase ice cream despite bringing $1 in cash and lastly, students are only allowed one ice cream and not permitted to buy an ice cream for a friend.
In its roughly 24 hours of being posted the social media, the post garnered more than 10,000 comments and 5,000 shares with accounts expressing their feelings — which were vastly negative.
"Wow!! #dobetter," one Facebook user commented.
Another user commented, "What a joke! How sad."
On Friday, the school updated the post with a lengthy apology and explanation.
"We understand this post lacked empathy," Donovan Elementary School wrote. "We are sorry for the way the message was communicated. The wording lacked empathy and sensitivity for students who have low or negative meal account balances."
The school then explained how the post was intended to re-communicate already existing district-wide rules for a la carte items in the cafeteria.
"These rules are not new," the school wrote. "Students who have a negative balance on their account are not turned away; they are provided a meal. Students are not allowed to purchase a la carte items if they have a negative balance in their meal account. Ice cream is an a la carte item. Therefore, if students have a negative balance on their meal account, they are not allowed to purchase ice cream."
Regarding cash, the school said the cafeteria does not accept it. The school also said it doesn't permit students to purchase food for their classmates without prior parent consent.
"We sincerely apologize for the way this information was communicated," the school wrote.
On her Facebook, Mz. Jade said she donated a little over $411 to eradicate all school lunch balances.
The restaurant owner made the donation through Neighborhood Bridges, which helps provide basic needs, remove barriers and seek equity for students of schools in the Greater Cincinnati area.
Lebanon City Schools also issued a statement Friday afternoon detailing how they're working with Neighborhood Bridges to use donations to pay off student meal balances.
Yesterday, a poorly worded message was communicated on Donovan Elementary's Facebook page about Ice Cream Friday. It lacked empathy and sensitivity. The message fell short of our district values of building a reflective, responsible, and respectful community. The wording lacked empathy and sensitivity for students who have low or negative meal account balances.
We work very hard to provide school lunches to students by removing barriers and eliminating the stigma associated with the lunch assistance program. The Facebook post inadvertently sent the message that we would embarrass students or turn them away for an issue outside their control. We do allow students to charge lunch, because good nutrition is essential to learning, and children forget or lose their money.
Every student at Donovan received an ice cream or other treat at lunch today.
We appreciate the positive outpouring of support. Many of our Warrior families, Lebanon community members, and strangers have offered to donate funds to pay off student meal balances. We have partnered with Neighborhood Bridges to accept donations to offset negative lunch balances.
I sincerely apologize for the way the information was communicated.
The backlash toward Donovan Elementary School comes as so-called school "lunch-shaming" has become a hot topic across the nation.
In March, a GoFundMe raised more than $8,000 to eradicate all outstanding school lunch balances at Kings Local Schools so kids wouldn't be forced to eat "alternative lunches" from the district.
Other Tri-State schools are also facing challenges after the end of the USDA pandemic-era free federal waivers, which allowed all students to get free breakfast and lunch at school.
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