Marcus Rashford calls out school which won’t feed kids if they have any lunch debt

A school recently went viral after it sent out a letter saying that any pupils who had lunch debt would not be served food.

Now Marcus Rashford has stepped in, calling out the school for its plans to not feed children if they are just a penny or over in debt.

The Manchester United star used his platform during the pandemic to campaign for free meals for vulnerable children, and even received an MBE for his incredible efforts.

Rashford quote-tweeted the letter, writing: “Has the pandemic not taught us anything? Can we not be understanding? Come on now…”, before adding: “For many children, lunch at school is the only meal they’ll get…”.

The school sent a letter to warn parents that from November 22nd they planned to refuse food to children with debt, urging them to make sure their kids’ accounts are all paid up.

According to the letter, the school cook had been instructed not to give food to ‘any child if their debt has not been cleared, or, in the future, to children whose accounts do not have enough money to pay for lunch’.

Neil Foden, strategic head of Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle in Penygroes, Gwynedd, said a deficit in the school’s budget was behind the decision, adding that a ‘handful of pupils’ had debts which totalled more than £1,800.

One former teacher responded to the incident on Facebook, writing: “This sounds like something out of Oliver Twist, it’s so Dickensian.”

They added: “I used to see children coming into school genuinely hungry all the time, no child should ever be punished like this and how humiliating for them if the cook had to say no to them, it’s also putting the cooks in a horrible position.”

Eric Jones / Geograph

In response to the outrage Mr Foden released a statement, saying any pupils from the poorest families are eligible to claim free school meals.

He added: “Any parent in genuine financial difficulty should write to their child’s Head of Year in order that we may see how best to assist.

“We understand that many families have experienced financial difficulty during the pandemic and we are not unsympathetic.

“However, any shortfall in the budget for school meals will have to be made up by the school which could mean fewer books and resources for all pupils because of debts run up by a few.”