Students want to fit in. They want to be just like all of their friends. For students at Painesville City Local School District, an unusual point of differentiation came to a head in the cafeteria lines. While most students paid with cash or had their parents prepay their lunches, those who qualified for a free lunch had to share that information with the cashier, often in front of their friends. Many chose a less embarrassing alternative. They just didn’t eat.
Painesville City Local School District in the northeastern corner of Ohio has a culturally diverse, lower-income student body. It is in the process of upgrading all of its schools, replacing five small elementary schools with three larger buildings and replacing both the middle school and the high school. The process will be complete in 2010.
