3 Colo. school districts accrue combined $1M in meal debt

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Source website link Three Colorado school districts have recently accrued a combined total of approximately $1 million in student meal debt. This is a staggering figure that reveals a major underlying issue regarding the accessibility of school meals for all students in the state.

The Poudre, Greeley-Evans and St. Vrain school districts report that more than 10,000 students in their areas owe a total of $930,000 and continue to increase the debt with each school year. Unless the students’ families can reach out to the school district’s nutrition services departments and make arrangements to pay their debt or separate arrangements with local food organizations, the school districts must absorb the debt on their balance sheets.

This situation has arisen from an increasing number of families who are struggling to make ends meet, even as unemployment statistics remain low in Colorado and the country as a whole. The challenge for such families is often twofold – low incomes, combined with basic living costs that continue to climb, leave them with little extra money for even food for their children.

Schools must now figure out how best to where the costs of unpaid meal debt in the most equitable way possible. Clearly, the districts involved with this situation will have to make options available for families to pay their debts. Yet, there is an even greater need for the state of Colorado to take measures to make school lunches more accessible and affordable for all, regardless of socioeconomic status.

Colorado has taken steps to combat potential food insecurity among students, such as supplying students of lower-income families with school lunch through the National School Lunch Program. However, there is more that could be done to increase the state’s efforts toward ensuring all children have access to nutritious and affordable food.

It is time for Colorado to take a closer look at this issue and come up with long-term solutions to reduce the risk of student meal debt in these three school districts – and perhaps the entire state – in the future.