The Santa Rosa County School Board voted unanimously last month on a new school lunch policy. The change stems from the district’s large lunch debt that has accrued over the last few years.
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At the end of the 2024-2025 school year, the district had a $56,000 school lunch debt. As of the beginning of October, that debt is down to $16,250.01.
Cindy Norton, food service coordinator for Santa Rosa County Schools, said the large debt stemmed from the “COVID years” when all students in Florida public schools received free lunches under federal waivers, which ended in 2022. The district was able to offset some negative balances in recent years; this past summer was the first time the district rolled over negative accounts.
“It's not a Santa Rosa problem. It is universal,” Norton pointed out. “It is everywhere in the nation. Other districts are in six figures. There's a real issue with meal debt in the nation … and the factors are all the same.”
In fact, the national public school meal debt is $194 million, according to a report conducted by the Education Data Initiative. In March, Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman introduced a bill directing the United States Department of Agriculture to pay outstanding meal debts across the country, citing the rising debts after 2022. No action has been taken on the bill.
The crisis has been exacerbated by rising food costs and cuts to federal programs, Medicaid, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provide direct eligibility for free or reduced lunches to students.
Rising grocery prices have been a top concern for Americans. That goes for the schools, too.
“We have to buy our products …we have the same factors that a household has,” said Norton. “And so, we have to look at the meal prices. We had to go up; this year, we went up 10 cents.”
Norton said they had considered raising the prices earlier, but that would’ve also added to the meal debt. Prices for a school lunch are $2.80. A reduced price is 40 cents.
“On our website, we have information for the parents so that they can budget their meals monthly,” Norton explained.
With the new policy, the school district now caps a student’s lunch debt at $50 and asks administrators to work with families on applying for free or reduced lunches.
If a student goes through the lunch line and has a debt, they won’t be able to charge it to their account, but will be provided an alternative meal. No food can be taken away, unless it’s an à la carte item such as a bottled water or an Uncrustables.
One of the ways the district is working to avoid these large meal balances in the future is by educating parents and working to get the reduced meal applications in front of parents.
“Prior to the school year, we did a huge marketing (campaign) educating the families to say ‘hey, here’s the QR code (for the application).’ Our PIO (public information officer) for the district did a great job of putting that out there on social media and some networks. So, we saw a huge increase in applications. We’ve done a better job on that.”
Rebecca McKeithen, founder of the non-profit Food Raising Friends, paints a picture of the average student with meal debt.
“The reality is the child most at risk is probably already living in poverty and potentially going home to a home that does not have enough food for them,” she said. “That across the country is going to be about one in seven children.”
When everything has been done to try and reach out to parents or guardians, McKeithen said it’s her personal belief that it’s the school’s responsibility to make sure students are fed at least one meal a day.
The challenges of school lunch debt across the country bring to light the discussion of universal free meals. Advocates say free meals not only combat childhood hunger but can contribute to better test scores, increased attendance, and better behavior among students.
McKeithen is among those who would like to see universal free meals.
“If we're going to require someone to go somewhere and we're going to say this is a safe space for you, what do we have to do in order for that to be the safest place for you?” she said. “And that is to guarantee them safety, security, food, shelter, water, (and) safe adults around them.”
Organizations like Food Raising Friends help supplement meals for students by providing food bags to be distributed to students who are experiencing food insecurity.
Some school districts are able to apply for the Community Eligibility Program (CEP) through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which allows for schools with higher rates of poverty to serve breakfast and lunch at no cost. There are no applications for students. Instead, schools are reimbursed by using a formula developed by the USDA to calculate the percentage of students eligible for free meals.
Norton explains that Santa Rosa qualifies for CEP, but it may still not be financially stable for the district.
“Even though we can get in the program, we have to make sure we're financially stable to not go into debt with the program,” Norton said. “So when we run those numbers, we would be in debt over $4 million.”
Congress has the authority to increase the multiplier so more schools would be eligible to participate. A bill introduced in 2023 increases the eligibility as well as reimbursement rates for CEP schools.
“We constantly look at that. And when that is a viable option, then we definitely would take that option,” Norton said.
The school district is still taking donations to reduce the meal debt. The Santa Rosa County Food Service Association is hosting a golf tournament in March next year, where proceeds will go to negative meal accounts.
