CPS leaders working to decide Lunch for Learners fund criteria with $91,000 in unpaid school lunch debt
Haley Swaino
Editor’s note: The sentence referring to the percentage of families who do not qualify for free or reduced lunch has been corrected.
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Leaders at Columbia Public Schools are looking at how to best tackle the more than $90,000 of student meal debt.
The conversation continued at the Columbia Public Schools’ Finance Committee meeting Tuesday evening. According to agenda documents, as of June 18, there were 1,673 student accounts that lend to the district’s $91,283.36 in unpaid school lunch debt.
Of the accounts with unpaid lunch debt, 247 are from students who receive free or reduced lunch and 1,426 are from students with paid accounts.
The Lunch for Learners fund is used to cover delinquent lunch accounts for families who do not qualify for free or reduced-price meals but face short-term financial hardship.
Approximately 42% of students in Columbia Public Schools qualify for free or reduced-price meals, according to previous reporting. However, many families find themselves just below the threshold, leaving them to face difficult decisions regarding daily essentials such as food, gas, and utilities.
The district serves all students hot meals regardless of lunch status, CPS spokesperson Michelle Baumstark told ABC 17 News in April. The cost of a meal is $3.10 for elementary and $3.30 for middle and high school.
With tens of thousands in unpaid school lunch debt, CPS and a Pennsylvania-based debt collection agency agreed earlier this month to go after unpaid student lunch balances and other delinquent payments beginning July 1.
The Columbia Board of Education approved the agreement with Ability Recovery Services LLC at its June 9 meeting with a 6-1 vote. Baumstark said the debt then was $92,403.72.
Board member Suzette Waters said CPS received an outpouring of donations to the Lunch for Learners fund after that announcement. But who gets that money is now being decided.
“There never has been a formalized process for determining eligibility for the fund because there wasn’t very much money in the fund,” Waters said. “There’s never been more than like $5,000.”
She said there is now more than $75,000 in the fund. But because it is only for families who do not qualify for free or reduced meals, the CPS Finance Committee is looking to create another way to decide which families can access that money, besides income.
The committee is now looking to other CPS leaders to help identify who needs money by sending them a list of students with accounts who owe that are not on free or reduced lunch.
“If those building staff know that actually this student, they just had this going on in their family, they might need some help, then we can make a personalized phone call to that family,” Waters said.
But though the Lunch for Learners fund is growing, the debt may also.
“What we really need to communicate to the community is although we have raised a lot of money through the generous donations of so many community partners and community members, we may not see a huge reduction in the the debt balance that CPS carries because most of those families don’t qualify for funds because they don’t have a need,” Waters said. “Even though we’ve raised $75,000+, we could raise $200,000 and next year there will be more debt.”
According to previous reporting, Board member April Ferrao said in the June meeting that 95-97% of outstanding debt is from families who do not qualify for free or reduced lunch or have not applied.
In an emailed letter home to those who owe, a paragraph already mentions the fund.
“A paragraph has now been added to the letter saying if you have had a circumstance like an unexpected medical bill or a temporary change in an employment and you have a need, please let us know because funds may be available to you,” Waters said.
The Lunch for Learners fund was created in 2010 by Nutrition Services Director Laina Fullum and Chris Belcher, who was the superintendent at the time. Its initial funding came from donations made by the United Way, the Columbia Public Schools Foundation, and various local organizations.
The district encourages donations to the Lunch for Learners fund year-round. Information about the fund and how to donate can be found at cpsk12.org.