School lunches: Anonymous donor gives $1,500 to Leon County Schools to help cover fees

CD Davidson-Hiers | Tallahassee Democrat

Show Caption Hide Caption California becomes latest state to make ‘lunch shaming’ at public schools illegal Students will no longer be given less appetizing meals if their parents fail to pay.

An anonymous donor has given $1,500 to Leon County Schools to help cover unpaid student lunch debts, according to the district's Nutrition Services office.

The topic of lunch fees and "lunch shaming" has made national headlines recently, with school districts reporting tens of thousands of dollars owed in fees, and some students being denied meals if they owe money.

Leon County doesn't deny kids food, Nutrition Services director James Howcroft assured the School Board at a recent agenda review meeting.

Before the donation, the school district had about $4K in unpaid lunch fees

But as of late November, the district did have roughly $4,000 in unpaid lunch fees from almost a dozen schools, records show.

School lunch costs for students vary by state and district, but on average, a single meal costs students $2.48 at the elementary-school level and $2.74 at the high-school level, according to the New Food Economy website.

If a child can't pay for a meal, public schools in Leon County will continue to incur a negative balance until the end of the year, Howcroft told the Board.

At that point, if a student with money still left in his or her account does not ask for a refund, that money goes to cover other students' debts, he said.

School Board member Alva Striplin had raised the topic at the meeting, saying a concerned community member was reading national headlines and emailed her, asking what to do to help.

"No one is ever going to take food away from a child," Howcroft told her.

Many schools also receive funding to cover meals, such as when schools qualify for Title 1 federal funding or the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP).

The CEP allows schools in low-income areas serve breakfast and lunch at no cost to students enrolled there, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees that program.

Next year, Leon County Schools intends to have all elementary schools in the district apply for the program.

“At all of our elementary schools, 100% of our children eat free if they so choose," Superintendent Rocky Hanna said.

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Outstanding lunch fees in Leon County Schools

Elementary:

Buck Lake — $507.84

Conley — $783.43

Desoto Trail — $267.95

Hawks Rise — $247.12

Killearn — $457.35

Roberts — $487.67

Middle:

Deerlake — $430.15

Montford — $369.82

High:

Chiles — $95.67

Leon — $94.83

Lincoln — $142.71

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Other — $78.75

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