School lunch payments on Monday’s school board agenda

Released at 12:07 am on Sunday, August 21, 2022

SALISBURY — A national issue landed on Monday’s agenda of the Rowan Salisbury School Board.

The board is seeking an update on school lunches after a federal exemption that allowed all school districts in the country to provide universal free meals expired in June. , which began in March 2020 when Governor Roy Cooper’s order closed schools across the country, including all public schools in North Carolina.

The exemption was extended to the 2020-2021 academic year and then to the 2021-2022 academic year, but the extension was not made after classes ended for this summer, so many students I am back to paying for my meal.

Ten schools still offer universal free meals through local special waivers, and many others have access to free or reduced lunches. The discounted lunch price is free again this year. This is because the state sets aside money to pay the difference for these students.

RSS Nutrition Director Lisa Altman said there is an influx of free or reduced-rate applications now that paid meals are back in schools.

How do free and reduced meals work?

Families must complete an application to qualify for a free or discounted lunch. There are several automatic modifiers, such as receiving food stamps and Medicaid assistance.

The state has also set aside some funds to cover the difference between free and discounted lunches, leaving fewer families to pay.

The Nutrition Division is organized as its own business and is reimbursed directly by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

All others, including those who may be eligible for assistance but have not yet submitted an application, must pay.

The district has a policy that students who do not receive free or discounted lunches may charge for three meals. This leads to a dietary debt that nutrition departments try to recover, which Altman says is often impossible.

The school district will not deny a student meal even after these three have been charged and the school considers it an “alternative meal” for which the district will not be reimbursed. Altman said ultimately the district would have to cover the uncollected debt and the cost of the alternative meals.

The district has recorded over $4,500 in student debt since classes began on August 10.

Each school maintains accounts so the public can pay their student meal debts. They started before his COVID-19 pandemic but have not been used while meals are free.

The meeting will begin at 4:30 pm at the Wallace Educational Forum and can be viewed online at vimeo.com/rssboe.

Other Agenda Items:

• The Board will consider a disposition resolution as part of the closing process for the sale of the former Enochville Elementary School to Piedmont Baptist Church. The sale price is 6 million yen.

• The Board will consider moving the November and December meetings to a single date, November 14th and December 12th.

• The board will consider hiring a new local attorney for bond forfeiture matters currently handled by town attorneys. The district’s current attorney in charge of debt forfeiture matters is Chris Sease, but he cannot continue in that role because he is about to become a district court judge.

Board Counsel Tarrington Smith of Raleigh Law Firm would recommend hiring Ryan Stowe of Stowe Law Firm of Salisbury.

Portions of this article appeared online in the Salisbury Post on Friday.