BY RILEY WILSON
As student lunch debt stacks up around the nation, the Eudora School District uses a variety of approaches to keep its food balance in line.
A recent survey by the School Nutrition Association found 75% of responding districts reported having unpaid student meal debt at the end of the 2017-18 school year.
Nationally, stories abound of students’ lunches being thrown out, the use of debt collectors and “lunch shaming,” or providing students with lesser meals that indicate their lack of lunch money.
Locally, student lunch debt builds throughout the year, but mostly climbs during the holiday season, said Sharla Miller, director of food and nutrition services for the Eudora School District.
“It’s getting up there. We always seem to get it up there around the Thanksgiving, Christmas time,” Miller said.
Currently, 31 families have a negative lunch balance totaling $798.63. Miller said this is consistent with previous years.
She said the Eudora community looks out for one another, noting there have been efforts by students, kitchen staff and a nurse to help pay off debt. This year, an anonymous business is in the process of paying off over half of Eudora’s lunch debt with a donation of $500.
“We do have ‘secret Santas’ come in and want to pay for part of the negative balances,” Miller said.
Lunch debt, if unpaid from one year, will roll over to the next school year. Many times, the debt is paid off by the community, Miller said. For example, the Eudora Schools Foundation helps relieve financial stress through the Lunch Account Reconciliation program through the Cardinals Care Fund.
Additionally, graduating high school seniors with leftover lunch money at the end of the year have the option of donating it to help pay other students’ debt, which many choose to do, she said.
According to Eudora School District policy, once a student reaches $20 in debt, the student’s parents receive an email saying the account is seriously delinquent. Students then receive a cheese sandwich lunch with a chosen side and milk, if the account is not receiving payments, Miller said.
Mark Dodge, director of school improvement and communications, said the district and the food services team try to prevent having to serve those lunches.
“We work really hard, and Sharla and her staff work really hard, to work with families to make sure that we don’t get to that point,” Dodge said.
To help alleviate the stress of paying for school lunch, families can apply for the free and reduced lunch program, which includes breakfast. This year, 361 Eudora students qualified for free lunches, while 193 qualified for the reduced program.
The National School Lunch Program provides free and reduced lunches to nearly 30 million children nationwide.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the lunch program, does not have a standard national policy for how schools should handle unpaid meals. However, the agency does require school districts to have a local policy on the matter.
“We believe local communities are best positioned to determine how to manage the problem based on their unique needs and available resources,” according to a statement on the agency’s website.
Kansas doesn’t have a state policy for local districts to follow regarding unpaid debt. Rather, it’s up to each school district to create their own within federal guidelines.
Kansas hasn’t experienced the frenzy related to student lunch debt like other states have, said Cheryl Johnson, director of child nutrition and wellness at the Kansas Department of Education.
She thinks this is because Kansas school districts don’t create hysteria around the debt and put forth effort to ensure students are being fed.
“We really do try to feed kids and find a way to feed kids,” Johnson said. “Trays aren’t being taken from them.”
The department encourages school districts to assist families before debt becomes a problem.
Dodge said that’s what the Eudora School District tries to do. Eligible Eudora families may sign up anytime for the free and reduced lunch program, which lasts the duration of the school year. Dodge said the program is there to support families.
“If there’s anything we can do to help them, we are more than happy to do that,” he said.
Those interested in donating can contact Miller at sharlamiller@eudoraschools.org or 785-542-4987.
Reach reporter Riley Wilson at eudoratimes@gmail.com.
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