Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle’s “indebted” students will not dine in Wales | United Kingdom | New
Children at Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle in Penygroes, North West Wales now has to make sure he has funds in his account at all times – because there was a deficit of over £ 1,800 in the school meals budget at the end of the last semester. Parents, however, reacted with fury to strategic leader Neil Foden’s letter.
He detailed how the school cook was instructed not to feed any child “if their debt has not been paid, or, in the future, to children whose accounts do not have enough money to pay for lunch “.
Now the deadline of November 19 has been set for parents to update their children’s accounts, North Wales Live reports.
Mr Foden added: “A closer inspection revealed that this was due to the fact that a handful of pupils had taken on debts totaling over £ 1,800.
“Unfortunately, that means I had to take the following steps.
“All debts over £ 10 will be transferred to the authority and parents will be billed by the council.
“All debts over £ 0.01 will receive a message from the school to clear the debts and credit the system by Friday 19 November.”
Gwynedd council, controlled by the Welsh nationalist Plaid Cymru party, said flexibility was in place to help families in difficulty.
Nonetheless, the bilingual school insists that it will refuse to serve children who have around 450 students aged 11 to 18.
Mr Foden apologized for the approach but said “the magnitude of the default means that something clearly needs to be done”.
However, parents are not happy with the policy, sharing their anger online.
One dad wrote: “Absolutely shocking. What’s wrong with the system, the kid might not know that mommy and daddy are struggling to afford, maybe this is the only food there is. ‘child eats that day. “
Another parent said: “If they actually let you pay your £ 1.60 bill without having to pay a minimum payment of £ 10, that would help. Seriously.”
A third shared, “I would suggest the chef himself tell the kids they can’t eat, don’t put that on the kitchen staff.
“We’ve gone from giving kids free breakfasts to that. Think about the damage that does.”
Another post states: “What recklessness. “
A spokesperson for Gwynedd council said: “We urge any parent or guardian who has difficulty paying for their child’s school meals to contact the education department or school directly. Their child may be eligible for payment. free school meals.
“In terms of paying for school meals, an online system has been put in place where parents must ensure that sufficient funds are in place to pay for their child’s school meals.
“The payment system provides flexibility for parents who may for some reason not be able to make payment for a short period of time.
“Reminder messages are sent as needed to ensure that no significant debt is incurred.
“As a board, we do not have a general policy of denying meals to students, and we will discuss this issue directly with the school.”
