Locals schools see thousands of dollars in overdue lunch fees

Shelby Reeves, Chillicothe Gazette
·2 min read
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CHILLICOTHE — In Ross County, thousands of students go to school every weekday and during that time a majority of the students eat lunch at their school, however, some of these students can't always afford lunch and end up with an overdue balance on their account.

As of April 2024, school districts in Ross County have the following overdue balances:

  • Chillicothe City- $0 overdue

  • Adena- $17,166 overdue between 280 students

  • Huntington- $0 overdue

  • Paint Valley- $3,240 overdue between 197 students

  • Union-Scioto- $1,587.84 overdue between 154 students

  • Zane Trace- $16,821 overdue between 346 students

  • Pickaway-Ross- $10,896 overdue between 249 students

  • Ross County Christian Academy- $350 overdue between 16 students

Adena Superintendent Matt Unger said the overdue balances have become a "problem" and the school will send notices home with students who are overdue but the school is unable to do much about the issue. Overdue students are still able to get a basic lunch during the day, the only difference is they may not be able to get any extra items.

Huntington Local Schools and Chillicothe City Schools are part of the Community Eligibility Provision which helps provide free breakfast and lunches to schools that meet the qualifications. This includes having at least 40% of students that are in households on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), homeless, federal Head Start program participants, foster children and more.

RCCA is also trying to help students by recently becoming part of the National School Lunch Program which offers free and reduced lunches to qualifying students. Over 20% of the students in the school district will benefit from that program.

The Leo Clubs at Zane Trace recently worked to fight this problem in their school with a fundraiser. The 11 members sold snack cakes that were donated in order to raise around $360. Instructor Christal Mercer said the students then worked together to come up with how to use the money and eventually landed on helping pay off overdue lunch balances. Giving back to the community through service is exactly what the club is trying to instill in its members so Mercer said it was great seeing the students wanting to help their peers.

Shelby Reeves is a reporter for the Chillicothe Gazette. You can email her at SReeves@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @Shelby_Reeves_

This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: A look at how much Ross County students owe in overdue lunch fees