Students’ ‘free’ lunches could hurt them in 20 years
There is a platitude in economics that there is “no such thing as a free lunch.” By this, economists mean that there is a price for everything and someone or something must cover that cost. There are many examples of this truism. However, few capture the literal and figurative meaning of “free lunch” as well as the bills parents of schoolchildren have recently received requesting payment for the school lunches their children ate since June.
Why are families receiving these bills? As part of many pieces of pandemic relief legislation, in March 2020, Congress authorized an expansion of the free and reduced-price lunch program that had existed for many years. It was now to include all students. The program was effective immediately and slated to end in June 2022. This pandemic-inspired government offering was an extension of the program that for many years provided free and reduced-price breakfasts and lunches to about 21 million children of low-income families. Under this earlier program, families had to apply and demonstrate that their annual income was about $36,000 (the income cutoff point varied by the location of the children).
When the new and expanded “free lunch for all” program was announced, it was made explicit that it would expire in June 2022 and that thereafter free lunch distribution would be offered only to children who met the criteria of the original program.
When June rolled around, many families failed to understand, or more often than not, chose to ignore that application requirement. The parents and guardians of students with delinquent meal accounts were often reminded of their obligation but failed to comply with requests for payment. Instead of embarrassing students for their family’s failure to pay for the lunches, schools often continued to provide free meals, keeping records of those who were no longer eligible for them. Today the debt amassed in 847 delinquent school districts exceeds $19.2 million and it is growing rapidly, according to a survey from the School Nutrition Association, a school food trade group.
What to do about the “free lunch” issue? The answer is not easy, nor is it inexpensive. Individual large school districts have incurred as much as $4.7 million in delinquent accounts, according to the School Nutrition Association. The association’s recent report, “State of School Nutrition,” surveyed 1,100 districts’ school nutrition directors and found that 71% of the districts had unpaid student meal debt on their books. This is money that schools owe to food service providers, food venders, etc. Under the guidelines of the 2020 program, districts will not be reimbursed by the federal government.
While the financial impact of such debt is significant, so too can be the negative publicity schools receive when social media tells of cafeteria meals being taken from students who do not pay, even though their parent(s) earn more than the federal guidelines permit. Often unencumbered by the financial facts that schools face, these articles are embellished with stories about the shame students feel when denied lunch or are given inexpensive alternatives because their accounts are in the rears. On the positive side, some foundations and local philanthropists have undertaken programs to help schools repay debts, but most of the money will eventually come from the school districts themselves. They in turn will either cut other programs and/or raise taxes to pay off this debt.
While small in the broad spectrum of the budget issues facing the country, the expanded “free school lunch for all” program is illustrative of how well-meaning government entitlements morph into programs whose expense far exceeds its original intent. Who will pay for this particular “free lunch” program? Like many similar government initiatives, it may very well be paid for by those students, who in 20 years find themselves with incredibly high taxes made necessary by the need to pay down the fiscal flippancy of their parents’ generation.