Charging of school lunches and how it has gotten out of hand

An anonymous donation of $400 came into the Ogden School District last December from who Supt. Dr. Tim Hoffman described as “an alumni with a heart.”

The donor stipulated it be applied to families who have overdue lunch accounts. He/she had apparently read a story about schools having issues with growing balances from students charging lunches.

Over the years Ogden’s overdue lunch balance has blossomed to $9,500. 

Dr. Hoffman explained that because food service is a federal program, they should not be in debt. Ogden, like so many other schools had too many and too much in overdue accounts. For this reason, the United States Department of Agriculture has required that each school develop a meal charging policy.

At the beginning of this school year, notice was sent to all families within the district detailing the policy regarding food service accounts.

It stated: “If your student’s meal account currently has a negative balance of $25 or more, he/she will no longer be allowed to charge any meals until their account is paid in full. 

Read more in the Feb. 22 issue of The Ogden Reporter.

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