More Kansas families are piling up school meal debt following the end of federal COVID subsidies that made all meals free. A new report from the advocacy group, Kansas Appleseed, shows that student lunch debt in Kansas reached $23.5 million this year. The report looked at district policies regarding lunch debt. About two-thirds of Kansas districts have policies that allow students an alternate meal or snack if they don’t have money in their account.
Kansas Appleseed, says punitive policies cause additional stress for students and families and still limiting kids’ access to meals is putting a lot of fear around access to food, which should just be a basic necessity. Less than 25% of school meal debt is ultimately paid off by parents. Districts typically end up covering the shortfall with general funds or donations.
