School Lunch Debt: Apparently Poor Kids Don’t Deserve to Eat
When you hear about a $19 million debt, your mind probably runs wild.
Who could possibly have racked up that much of a tab? What did they do? Was it gambling? Drugs? A wild Hangover-style romp around the globe? Maybe a scam of some kind, like a real estate deal with the mob.
None of the above. The people who owe that money aren’t even old enough to drink.
See, during the Covid-19 Pandemic the United States made some quick moves to try and alleviate the strain on low-income families. Free school lunch programs popped up all over the place, ensuring that kids in poverty would still get a meal provided to them, even if schools closed.
But now that we’ve collectively decided that the Pandemic is over, the charity has stopped. The collection plate is being passed around again.
Collectively, hungry children back in school now owe nearly $20 million to school districts around the country.
Each kid has a different number in red in the bookie’s ledger. For some it’s as little as $9, for others it’s closer to $100. Every school district has a different level of tolerance for how long a kid can go without coughing up the dough.
Those who can’t pay go hungry. Many kids in low-income families depend on school lunches and breakfasts, even to the point of them being their only reliable source of food.
Losing that meal is a catastrophe.
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