Pay Up Or Children Go Hungry?

LAS CRUCES - One parent says a school district in the Borderland is going to extreme measures to get student cafeteria debt paid off. She says they're not allowing kids to eat if they owe $5 or more on their cafeteria balance.

Vivian Galvez has a son in the 8th grade at Sierra Middle School in Las Cruces.

"He was embarrassed. He was in line with his friend and his friends kind of felt bad," She said.

Galvez says earlier this month her son grabbed his school lunch tray and was at the checkout line when the cashier stopped him and said you owe us money.

"And then they told him that he couldn't eat, that he had to take his tray back," she said.

Galvez told us it was the first time the school told her son there was a balance, and she doesn't think it's fair they made him go through the day hungry.

"It's our responsibility but if the schools are not letting us know that we have a balance then how do we know what we have to pay," she said.

We asked the district about the allegations.

"If she did not {receive notice} then I certainly apologize for that on behalf of the school district," Las Cruces Public School Spokesman Michael Cook said.

Cook told us more than $3,500.00 is owed to school cafeterias in the district, and he says they're simply trying to get parents to pay up.

"If the family works with us to make some effort to resolve even part of the debt our major goal is to make sure kids get fed," he said.

Galvez paid off the $20.00 balance she owed and her son is now allowed to eat, but she's worried the same thing may be happening to other kids whose parents don't know about a balance owed.

"I understand where they're coming from on that part, but I still don't think they need to be telling the kids that they can't eat their meals. I think the kids need to eat no matter what," she said.

Galvez says at the very least the school should have given her son a snack, but she says they didn't even do that.

"You think, you know, that your kids are being fed at school, and that's something that should be done every day," she said.

We asked the district if it was true that they didn't offer anything to Galvez's son.

"That's a possibility, unfortunately. I think it's pretty rare that happens. I know in elementary schools it does not," Cook said.

He also told us the district is now working to make sure this never happens again.

"This is an issue we're trying to resolve. We're trying to come up with an alternative program to make certain in 100% of cases if the student doesn't get the meal being served he or she is served some kind of alternative."