BUTLER COUNTY — A Butler County school district says it’s seeing an increase in student lunch debt, as well as families struggling to pay that debt, since the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The Talawanda School District has a current debt of just over $58,000, according to our news partners, WCPO.
When asked how the debt got that high, the district’s director of communications and public engagement, Holli Hansel, highlighted that while the government made meals free during the pandemic, that funding “dried up.”
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Hansel also mentioned state funding and inflation as contributing factors to the debt.
It’s an issue that she told WCPO is “not unique” to Talawanda School District.
“It’s really happening all around the state,” she added.
At Talawanda Schools, breakfast costs $1.75 a day. Lunches are $3 for elementary students and $4 for middle and high school students.
WCPO did that math. That adds up to $95 per month for elementary students and $115 for middle and high school students, if they eat breakfast and lunch each day.
The district does offer free and reduced lunches for families who meet a certain income threshold. WCPO reported that about 40 percent of students meet that threshold.
Since December, the district has received two anonymous donations, totaling around $7,000, to help cover the debt. Several other people have called about donating to it.
Students were even able to raise around $2,000 with a fundraiser.
Hansel told WCPO that the district does have plans to address the debt, including applying for a $16,000 grant.
“We’re really hoping that through a variety of sources we’ll be able to get that debt down,” she said.
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