Nashville schools board asks the community to help pay $67,000 in unpaid school lunch balances

Nashville schools board Chair Anna Shepherd wants community members to put an end to lunch "shaming," challenging residents to pay off student lunch debt.

Shepherd last week requested Metro Nashville Public Schools place a list of unpaid lunch balances within the district. Heeding her call, district officials released online Tuesday a list of 26 schools with unpaid school lunch balances of over $200.

The total unpaid lunch balance of those schools totals $67,692. 

"If they go unpaid, the school has to find money to pay for them," Shepherd said. "There are not a lot of discretionary funds in Metro Nashville Public Schools."

Unpaid lunch balances are a recent issue for the 86,000 student district.

The district, which serves mostly low-income students, provides free or reduced lunch to many students. But since the 2018-19 school year, the district no longer is eligible to provide free lunch to all its students.

Shepherd said she was unhappy when she found out from families that over the holiday break robocalls went out from the district seeking payment. She said it created a cloud for families during the holidays.

"Four such calls went out," she said. "I found that offensive."

The district website says community members can donate by sending individual schools by a check to the address listed on each school’s website with a note that funds are meant to retire lunch debt for the school. 

"Hungry children do not learn," Shepherd said. "That is a fact."

Statewide, Rep. John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville, has filed House Bill 1589 seeking to enact the "Tennessee Anti-Lunch Shaming Act." The act would ensure students aren't punished for unpaid lunch debt.

Clemmons failed to get a similar bill passed in a House committee last year.

To view the list, visit: https://www.mnps.org/blog/2020/1/21/student-lunch-program-balances.

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Reach Jason Gonzales at jagonzales@tennessean.com and on Twitter @ByJasonGonzales.