Pennsylvania school district turns down offer to pay off student lunch debts

[left-of-center2012]

Todd Carmichael, the Philadelphia-based CEO of La Colombe coffee, offered to write a check for $22,467.76 to clear the school-lunch debt of a group of children whose school district was threatening to put them in foster care if their parents didn’t pay up.
The Wyoming Valley West school board president Joseph Mazur said no to Carmichael.

Carmichael, a self-described activist against the policies of President Trump and his administration, has been jailed in the past for causes he cares about. He supports a $15 per hour minimum wage and better state funding of Pennsylvania public schools, and has come out against tax breaks for corporations. But the Wyoming Valley West situation really touched a nerve, he said in a phone interview Tuesday.

Carmichael had Aren Platt, a La Colombe consultant, reach out to the Wyoming Valley West School District attorney over the weekend, but got no response. Next, efforts were made to reach the school superintendent. Finally, Platt found a home phone number for school board president Joseph Mazur and reached him on Monday. He made the no-strings attached offer and said Carmichael didn’t necessarily need credit for his actions. Mazur told Platt that he would not accept the offer, Platt said. Mazur said that he believed most of the families who owed money could afford the debt, and that it was their responsibility to pay. “His counter was, these are affluent families who just want to get something for free,” said Platt.

Carmichael said that while “I just don’t like” Mazur, the offer to settle the families’ debt still stands. “Let’s just take care of the problem,” said Carmichael. “Let’s just take care of the kids.”

https://www.inquirer.com/news/school-lunch-debt-foster-care-pennsylvania-todd-carmichael-la-colombe-20190723.html

[Botany]

1. "Let's just take care of the problem," said Carmichael. "Let's just take care of the kids."

I betya school board president Joseph Mazur, is a "Christian" too.

[Blue_true]

7. Likely a Christian republican.

I think that he should accepted the offer, zeroed the debt then brought the parent in for a sit-down.

Does anyone from PA know much about that county? Is it "affluent" like the school board prick claimed?

[riversedge]

10. 64 percent of Wyoming Valley West students live below the poverty line. per the article!

[Blue_true]

15. So it is poor and that school board guy is an asshole.

One article said that the whole district would qualify for free lunch next year, that does not happen in "affluent" districts. Those good folks are getting a taste of what electing republicans bring about.

[questionseverything]

23. the azz wipe needs to lose his position

where the heck are the rules about WHO pays the kids lunch bills?

so if grandma or grandpa write a check for the lunches or a helpful stranger, what's the difference?

[gratuitous]

2. It isn't about the money; it never was

It's about making poverty a crime, and threatening a helpless and vulnerable segment of the population.

[Botany]

3. Hey, what good is a title and power if you can't abuse people?

Mr. Carmichael offer could have a ripple effect through out the school district
and the community and Mr. Carmichael might get some future employees out
of the deal too.

[handmade34]

4. "It's about making poverty a crime"

of course

[TeamPooka]

5. I believe that legally they have to take the money. nt

[jberryhill]

6. Fire that administrator now

You have a red number in your book. Someone offers to pay that. Wtf do you care where the money comes from?

It is completely irresponsible not to take that money.

[yaesu]

13. yep, administrator needs to get the boot. I have never heard of a school refusing donations like

that and it happens quite often.

[onethatcares]

8. just do it, gauddmmint

walk into the office, hand the woman/man/trans behind the counter a check or money order. State "this is to be used to pay the owed lunch debts", walk out. go away, don't speak about it, don't have media there.

Just do it.

[eggplant]

16. *person. The word you were looking for was "person".

[onethatcares]

18. you're correct

I just got tangled up.

Thanks my friend.

[eggplant]

22. If you edit your post, I'll delete my replies.

[riversedge]

9. "64 percent of Wyoming Valley West students live below the poverty line. "............

The school board president is a LIAR. Another bad example for kids-just like trump!!




.......

“His counter was, ‘These are affluent families who just want to get something for free,’” said Platt. “This wasn’t ever about repayment of a debt. It was about shaming people.”

Carmichael agreed that the district is less concerned with its $22,000 and more concerned about humiliating people who struggle.

“I don’t know why anyone would want to do that,” said Carmichael, “to shame them because they can’t pay for mac and cheese.”

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, 64 percent of Wyoming Valley West students live below the poverty line. Just over 4,500 students are enrolled in the school system.

Messages left for Mazur and other school district officials were not returned.

................................

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

11. I likewise find it hard to believe that they can

actually turn down that money.

[jberryhill]

14. How would you like to be a taxpayer there?

Fuck the lunches. This guy is intent on burning taxpayers’ money whether they have kids or not.

[Penn Voter]

12. This school

is located in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. It is not a wealthy county. However, I believe that the majority of the county voters voted for Trump in 2016. I would bet that Mazur was one of them.

[Yeehah]

17. "In the first place, God made idiots."

"That was for practice. Then he made school boards."

Mark Twain

[BunnyMcGee]

19. Fantastic

That is usable in so many ways. I love it

[JDC]

20. Boot straps or Foster Care!

Clearly this man's judgement of others is more important than the debt itself. He should be fired.

[ThoughtCriminal]

21. It's way past time to quit charging for school lunches

Sorry, I don't have any solid numbers, but we waste a HUGE amount of money, staff time, and parent time with a mountain of paperwork determining which students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches. I'm fairly certain the cost of all this paperwork vastly exceeds the cost of simply feeding all the children. Eliminating lunch fees would also remove the stigma for the kids, improve classroom performance and probably improve classroom behavior.

Quit worrying about some students getting free lunches that their parents might be able to afford. This is public education. Making sure no child goes hungry is way more important than whatever twisted morality says children should be punished because their parent could not afford the lunches or forgot to take care of it. These are the same kind of "Adults" who think it's okay to put children in cages.

[questionseverything]

24. some parents wouldn't want to take the free lunch

that would be easy to fix.....if you sign up for free lunch it is free, if you don't you can still pay

I think the same should go for food stamps

for every dollar the govt spends on fs the gdp is boosted by 1.74...that is a great invest ment