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Good morning neighbors,
In case you missed it: A group of local nonprofits recently wiped out $24,000 in accumulated school lunch debt for students across the Alamance-Burlington School System.
The donation offered immediate relief to the families of more than 500 students, but group leaders warn it’s only a temporary fix to a systemic problem.
Even with the slate wiped clean, new school lunch debt accumulates in ABSS at a rate of roughly $3,500 each month, according to SAFE Alamance, a nonprofit fighting food insecurity and poverty in our county.
SAFE is one of the local organizations actively fundraising to build a reserve to help pay off future debts, in partnership with United Way of Alamance County and All For Lunch.
This isn’t the first time school lunch debt has been a topic of discussion in our community. As part of its “The Public Asks” series, The Alamance News shared a report two years ago about a school barring students with lunch debt from attending a dance.
Let’s break down how this latest discussion all started (Spoiler alert: local news!):
Last fall, Elon University senior Anjolina Fantaroni, executive director of the Elon News Network, interviewed UWAC president Shereá Burnett and community partnerships manager Tara Nager for a special report on free and reduced lunch in ABSS.
The interview didn’t make it into the story, but the conversation prompted Burnett to tell SAFE’s Executive Director Tiffanie Jackson what she learned. The two talked about school lunch debt and food insecurity, which led them to independently look into the debt amount.
Burnett also reached out to ABSS school board member Seneca Rogers, who has been openly advocating for universal free school meals in ABSS and statewide.
Burnett asked Rogers if the school board was aware of the issue. “How can we really address this?” she asked.
Many students in the district can't accrue any debt because their meals are already covered under a USDA program that reimburses districts for costs of free breakfast and lunch to all students in low-income areas, regardless of household income.
The ABSS website lists 28 out of the system’s 38 schools as of these Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) schools.
In non-CEP schools, the district also has a “no child turned away” policy for students who don’t have money to pay for their meal in the school lunch line which allows charges to still be made to that student’s account.
Hence, the debt.
While all this was happening, the United Way received a $15,000 donation from McKay’s in Mebane. The company wanted the money to go towards funding something related to food.
“We talked to them about the school lunch debt, and so they said they wanted part of their donation to go to the school lunch debt,” Burnett said.
Burnett said the debt at 11 of the schools was low enough for that one donation to cover it. United Way pitched in an additional $1,500 for another school that wasn't fully covered by the donation. But there were other schools with more substantial debt amounts of more than $3,000.
SAFE started a fundraiser through All For Lunch to pay off what was left.
“What [All For Lunch] also talked to Tiffanie [at SAFE] about was sustaining this and what does this look like on an ongoing basis to keep it at zero?” Burnett said.
That brings us to the efforts currently underway: prevention.
Yes, these groups are actively fundraising, but their primary goal is helping as many eligible families as possible sign up for the free and reduced lunch program so the debt doesn’t accumulate again.
However, systemic barriers remain. Families often skip the application not only due to stigmas, but also due to language barriers, a lack of reliable internet access to navigate the district's online portals, or a fear of entering personal data into a government system – especially if families are undocumented.
Rogers said removing the stigma around food assistance is critical because children need reliable access to nutritious food to learn, grow, and succeed academically. He would like the school system to ensure families have greater access to the free and reduced lunch application beyond initial enrollment. Eligibility for free and reduced lunch only lasts for one school year.
At SAFE, Jackson is incorporating the application – and assistance filling it out – into the resources they share at their locations and other in-person outreach in the community, including an upcoming door-to-door campaign.
United Way is working with Triad Goodwill to provide an “On The Go” mobile unit - which also regularly visits SAFE – so families can access the application in addition to other traditional services Goodwill provides, like employment services and internet access.
“Maybe there's additional sites that say, ‘Hey, if you don't want to do this at school or if you don't feel comfortable, come to our site. There's no judgment, there's no shame. We will help,” Nager said. “How can we bring that information and get that information to those folks in a place where they feel safe, they feel trusted, where they're already going for something else.”
United Way's next Community Council on April 9 will focus on food insecurity. Register for free here. Below you’ll find a guide to apply for free or reduced meals online and on paper, in English and Spanish. I hope you’ll share them.
And while we are talking education, the school board voted unanimously last night to approve the new redistricted plan. More on that below! |
