Butler County schools do their best to make sure all students are able to eat breakfast and lunch regardless of a student’s ability to pay for it.
However, students sometimes do accrue unpaid balances for lunches and breakfasts, and local districts handle that in varying ways.
That is what Poplar Bluff, Neelyville and Twin Rivers superintendents recently shared when asked about the subject.
Poplar Bluff R-I superintendent Dr. Aaron Cornman said the district always makes sure a student gets to eat.
“We still give students a meal (even if they cannot pay) — we do not take a plate back from students,” Cornman said. “(However), they can not purchase a la carte if they have a negative account balance....We also encourage parents with students above the third grade to fill out the Free and Reduced Lunch forms provided in the offices of their schools. Many families qualify and don’t complete the form and are not able to utilize the program for meals during school hours.”
Cornman said 77% of R-I students receive either free or reduced rate lunches. The regular price for breakfast is $1.70 and $2.45 for lunch.
He added the school district had an unpaid meal balance of $40,534.14 as of August and this dated back to 2016, when the district’s current records began. He added the school does not write off any of the unpaid balances as uncollectable.
Cornman encourages R-I parents to utilize the district’s Online Meal Payment portal to manage their child’s account balance at www.poplarbluffschools.net/families/student_360/online_meal_payments.
At Neelyville, R-IV superintendent Heather Black said 49.2% of the district’s students received free and reduced lunches as of the end of the previous school year in June. Students are charged 60 cents to eat breakfast, while lunch is $1.95 for students pre-kindergarten through sixth grade and $2.10 for grades 7-12. The district’s reduced breakfast rate is 30 cents and the reduced lunch rate is 40 cents.
“The only recent change was in the price of breakfast and lunch for the 2023-24 school year,” Black said. “The board approved a 10-cent increase in (regular) breakfast and lunch prices at the July meeting.”
Like at Poplar Bluff, Black said the district works to make sure students eat and that all meals are paid for.
“The district notifies parents and guardians often of any unpaid balances,” Black said, “and works with all families to ensure students are receiving meals at school.”
Twin Rivers R-X superintendent Rob Brown said his district also makes sure students do not go without food because they cannot pay.
“Students who are not on free or reduced lunches and cannot pay are provided an alternative meal of no charge, which consists of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and milk,” Brown said. “Currently, we do not have anyone on the alternative meal plan. We try to intervene way before that point, work a payment plan or find help for the family.”
Brown said the district charges a $1 regular rate for breakfast and $2.10 for lunch. The latter represents a recent 10-cent increase. He said 56% of Twin Rivers High School students, 71% of Qulin Students and 80% of Fisk students eat either free or reduced-rate lunches.
Brown said the district’s current unpaid meal balance is $975.
“Occasionally, we will receive a donation from a community member or business to help cover high meal balances,” Brown said. “We also have a district care fund that can help with small amounts. Sometimes it can be turned over to a collection agency as a last resort.”