SALT LAKE CITY — Officials with the Salt Lake City School District announced more changes to school meal account policies Wednesday and said two employees placed on paid leave after a controversial incident will soon return to work.
The changes come after several students at Uintah Elementary School were initially given lunches only to have them taken away and thrown in the trash once it was determined they had deficits in their lunch accounts.
According to a press release from Jason Olsen, communications officer for the Salt Lake City School District, The Uintah Elementary School kitchen manager will return to work Thursday and the supervisor will return to work Tuesday.
In the release he stated, “The district’s investigation is not over, but the district cannot comment on personnel issues.”
The school also announced an electronic payment program that will allow parents to set up a free account for making payments and receiving notifications. The system includes daily, automated reminders to parents once their child’s balance falls below $10.
The release stated that parents who do not opt into the electronic system will be notified by an in-house system that will include weekly phone or email messages when a child’s account balance is between $10 and $0.01. When a child’s balance is negative, parents will receive daily rather than weekly notifications of the account’s status.
The district announced other changes earlier, which included a promise that students would no longer receive partial lunches due to account status.
For more information about the policy changes announced Wednesday, click here.
The initial story gained national attention, and aTexas man inspired by the situation spent more than $400 to pay delinquent balances for school children in Houston.
