Lunch balance deficit highlights need to re-register for free and reduced meals

Despite donations made by community members to reduce overdue lunch balances, the Newton Community School District is reporting a $9,200 deficit only six weeks into the new school year. Julie Miller, food service supervisor, attributes some of it to families needing to re-register for free and reduced meals.

Free and reduced meal applications can be filled out any time online by visiting: www.newtoncsd.org/district/departments/food-service/free-reduced-applications. Paper copies are also available at the E.J.H. Beard Administration Center and all school buildings. Applications can be submitted electronically on Infinite Campus.

Physical copies can be delivered by mail to Newton High School, 800 E. Fourth St. S., Newton, Iowa, 50208 ATTN: Julie Miller. They can also be dropped off at the administration center between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday or to any of the building office secretaries.

In a food service update to school board members on Oct. 14, Miller commended the generosity of longtime Cardinal Rick Vernon and his challenge to community members to pay off the district’s lunch balance fund before school started. At that time, the district reported a more than $21,000 deficit.

It was fully paid off in less than a week. However, Miller let board members know the district is back to its negative balance. Miller said she is working hard to contact parents regularly — especially via direct message on ParentSquare — to get the balance back to zero.

School board member Travis Padget shared his concerns about the deficit, especially with it being so early in the school year. Miller said it is not unusual to see this amount of a deficit at the start. She claimed the district was at a similar deficit early on last year, too.

“Is it an issue that it’s the beginning of the school year and people aren’t signed up for free and reduced?” Padget asked.

“That’s a big part of it,” Miller said, noting there could be another factor at play. “…I feel that when people come out with these big donations, which is really awesome and I really appreciate the support, it kind of tells people, ‘Oh! Well, I don’t need to pay my bill because someone else is going to pay it for me.’”

But a lot of people just don’t know that their free and reduced applications that were approved last year have now expired. Miller said if a new application has not been filled out this year, students stay free and reduced for the first 30 days and then they are taken off. Miller said families were notified this would happen.

“I don’t know if they just forgot or they don’t think they qualify or they don’t want to fill out an application,” Miller said. “So some of those charges are due to those students who were free but are no longer free. So I’m trying to round those folks up and see if I can get them to reapply.”