News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Overton County students with outstanding school lunch debt must get it paid by Sunday.
School Nutrition Supervisor Debie Taylor said students who did not fill out an application for free meals, add money to their account, or pay as they ate may still have outstanding charges. She said there is still some debt yet to be collected, but not nearly as much as last year.
“Last year was the first year back after the COVID waivers ceased,” Taylor said. “And people were used to, in the COVID waivers, everyone ate free and they were used to that. And so coming back after the COVID waivers were removed, the debt was a whole lot.”
Taylor said parents can visit the k-12 payment center online and create an account to pay off outstanding charges. She said that upon creating an account, parents gain access to purchase history to see what foods their children have spent money on at school.
“Everyone can fill out a meal application,” Taylor said. “And a lot of our children, their parents filled out a meal application, so they got to eat free or at a reduced price.”
She said the school nutrition program participates in the federal government’s National School Lunch Program, so it cannot incur or absorb the debt that is not paid.
“I will run the reports that show how much outlying debt still remains and I will give that to the director of schools, which then means that Overton County Schools has got to reimburse that program,” Taylor said.
