Unpaid balance leads to sack lunches

The Red Oak School District is making plans to give sack lunches to students who are carrying a negative balance in their hot lunch accounts. 

During the school board meeting Monday, Oct. 24, superintendent Tom Messinger said currently there were less that 100 students who had a negative balance, ranging from under a dollar to $30. 

After discussing the issue with other districts and getting their feedback, Messinger said sack lunches seemed to be the best option. 

“Most schools do some form of sack or alternative lunch for students who reach a certain negative balance,” Messinger said. 

Messinger said it was something that could be done and needed to be communicated across the board. 

“I’d like to make it so that if a student gets more that $5 in the negative balance, they get a sack lunch.”

Messinger said there was a misconception that the school was going to be telling students they couldn’t eat. According to Messinger, that’s not the case. 

“Each lunch will have a sandwich, a fruit and vegetable serving, and milk. It’s going to be a regular sack lunch, just not the whole hot lunch,” commented Messinger. 

Additionally, if a student reached that negative balance, Messinger said he was in favor of removing the option to use the ala carte line. If  children or their families are unable to bring their account out of a negative balance, Messinger said the school district is giving the option for a payment plan, and the parents would be notified of the negative balance.

“There will be phone calls, letters home. The high school students will call from the office with the secretaries present.”

There were no objections from the board. The plan was put into place on Monday, Oct. 31. 

In other business, the board:

• Approved the purchase of a John Deere Gator for the maintenance department, at a cost of $16,202. 

• Approved the resignation of Heather Gothberg as a teacher leader mentor, and accepted the addition of Mike Moran as a teacher leadership mentor. 

• Accepted the resignation of junior class prom sponsor Sami Jo Moyers. 

• Approved the hiring of Sueann French as head high school cross country coach.