Tag Archives: school lunch debt

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No Free Lunch

Missouri district embarrassed by 5th grader

School lunch debt should not exist.

Not in Tennessee. And not anywhere else.

The Community Steps Up

Recently, a fifth grader in Missouri raised funds to pay off the school lunch debt at his school. The fundraiser was so successful, he also was able to pay off the lunch debt for graduating seniors at his local high school.

Policymakers could end all school lunch debt – if they wanted to.

Some districts (like Nashville) have free meals for all kids. Heck, some states (like Minnesota) provide funding for free meals for all kids in school.

But more often than not, school lunch debt is a reality – and punishments for school lunch debt can include withholding diplomas or preventing students from participating in certain school activities.

The alternative is simple: feed all the kids at school for free. No questions asked.

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The Community Steps Up

Exposes massive state policy failure

In Wilson County, people are stepping up to cancel school lunch debt.

Sure, school lunch debt represents a massive policy failure. But at least this community is coming together to say kids shouldn’t leave school with debt for meals.

The action by the Wilson County community also highlights that the state can easily afford to cancel all $50 million in school lunch debt currently on the books.

Wilson County residents raised enough money – around $6000 – to cancel the lunch debt for all graduating seniors. Still, the district has some $30,000 in school lunch debt remaining.

Lawmakers have repeatedly rejected the idea of the state paying for free school meals (breakfast and lunch) for all kids. The projected cost: $714 million a year.

Half a billion for the Titans stadium? No problem!

Sitting on $700 million in TANF? Got it!

Feeding ALL kids at school every day? Nope!

That’s the policy position of Tennessee.

crop man getting dollars from wallet
Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

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Why Does School Lunch Debt Exist?

Tennessee policymakers reject efforts focused on free meals for all kids in school

Arby’s is stepping up where Tennessee lawmakers failed. The roast beef sandwich chain is providing a grant to erase school lunch debt in one Tennessee county.

Meanwhile, legislators consistently reject efforts to provide free meals to all kids at school.

Salon reports on the effort by Arby’s to erase student lunch debt:

Hawkins County Schools in Tennessee received a $16,892 grant from the Arby’s Foundation to assist with student lunch debt. The foundation, which centers on combating childhood hunger, has committed $500,000 to support approximately 200 communities in which Arby’s has a restaurant.  

Salon notes that Tennessee students carry a staggering amount of school lunch debt:

The issue of outstanding student lunch debt isn’t unique to Hawkins County; according to 2024 statistics from the Education Data Center, on a state-level, Tennessee has $51,610,062 in student lunch debt and about 285,770 food insecure students.

This despite repeated efforts by both Democratic and Republican lawmakers to pass legislation that would provide some measure of free school meals to all kids.

One analysis notes that the cost to provide free school meals (breakfast and lunch) to all kids in Tennessee would be $714 million.

In a state with typical annual budget surpluses in range of $2 billion, this seems like an easy task.

Instead, the General Assembly this year is focusing on passing a corporate tax break estimated to cost $1.6 billion.

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