VIDEO: School Lunch Accounts Being Overdrawn

CALHOUN COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI)- School districts are facing a decision across north Mississippi.

How to deal with overdrawn school lunch accounts. It’s been reported Alcorn County will start calling out parents who aren’t paying up.

The majority of Calhoun County’s students receive either free or reduced lunches.

Superintendent Mike Moore says staying on top of every child’s account balance is key.

“We’re about 80% free and reduced. Our free by itself is probably about 65%; so we’re high numbering in free and reduced,” says Calhoun County School District Superintendent Mike Moore

He says administrators came up with a plan early on to avoid overdrafted lunch accounts.

Notes are sent home, at first. And a student can overdraft an account up to 8 dollars at which point they are provided an alternate meal.

“It’ll still meet the FDA standards. We’ll do that three times, at the end of that three times, and we’re sending notes home our cashiers and all our cafeteria personnel are sending those notes home, each one of those days, at the end of that third day we turn it over to the principal and the principal will have the parent come up that particular day and pay the remaining balance,” says Moore.

A traditional school lunch is a tray of food that consists of a sandwich, some fries, a choice of fruit, as well as a vegetable. Now this lunch costs 2 dollars and 50 cents, but what happens when that cost isn’t paid? Luckily, for schools in Calhoun County they don’t have to worry about that.

“Our cafeteria cashier, she monitors the accounts daily and when we see students accounts getting to their extended amount we send our charge letter weekly to notify the parents and they’re good about getting their kids account back into active,” says Bruce Elementary Cafeteria Manager Camillia Miller.

She says her staff sends very few notices home.

“Maybe it varies from like 4 to 8 a week,” says Miller

Moore says there must be communication between faculty and parents.

“I’ve heard of districts having 25 and 30 dollar fees owed to them and I would just say, stay on top of it. Getting everyone on board and getting the letters out to the parents and making sure everybody is on the same page,” says Moore.

He also says he and his staff would never let a child go hungry despite their account balance.

There are no plans to change the district’s policy.

Categories: Local News

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