Cherry Hill schools to give tuna to students with outstanding lunch debt

CHERRY HILL, N.J. - The Cherry Hill School District plans to serve tuna to kids with an outstanding lunch debt of $10 and the policy has people fired up.

The lunch policy, which is two years old, was loudly criticized by parents and students at a school board meeting Tuesday night.

"We are horrified by this tuna fish proposal," Oliver Adler, Cherry Hill East student body president, said at the meeting.

 Adler says the district’s lunch policy to serve tuna fish to children with an outstanding debt of $10 is an unfair and inappropriate punishment.

"There has to be a more private penalty rather than public shaming," he said.

The strong wave of concern comes after last month's school board meeting hearing that the district picked tuna fish as the existing alternate lunch choice.

The second half of the district’s school lunch policy states that if a student owes more than $20 he or she won’t be fed at all. Superintendent Dr. Meloche made it clear that this part of the policy has not and will not be enforced. The big question that remains is how to get parents to either pay up or if necessary apply for free and reduced lunch.