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District tallies $15,000 meal tab

Staff members will attempt to collect what’s owed
Durango School District 9-R is stuck with a $15,000 tab in unpaid student meals as the academic year nears its end. No student is turned away from a meal for financial reasons, but the unpaid meals add up for the district.

As the academic year ends next week, Durango School District 9-R is looking at $15,000 in unpaid student meals.

The figure contributes to the district’s subsidy of the school-meal program. In 2013-14, the subsidy cost $294,500.

Families can establish an account against which their students can draw for either breakfast or lunch, district spokeswoman Julie Popp said Friday. Students also can pay with cash or charge the meal and the parents will be billed.

Students who pay full price are charged $2.55 for lunch and $1.10 for breakfast from preschool through fifth grade. Students in grades six through 12 pay $2.80 for lunch and $1.35 for breakfast.

Students whose families qualify for reduced prices pay nothing for children in preschool through fifth grade. Students in grades six through 12 pay 40 cents a meal.

But even families that qualify for free meals can add to the unpaid-meal tab, Popp said. The situation arises if the family fails to register for the program, she said.

The student is served because no one is turned away, but the meal is billed to the family, which can’t pay, Popp said

During the summer, school district staff members try to collect what’s owed, Popp said. They usually reduce the overall unpaid tab to around $2,000, but it requires an inordinate amount of time, she said.

During the last six years, there has been about $7,000 owed at the end of each school year, Popp said. But this year, the amount jumped to $15,000.

daler@duangoherald.com



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