Anonymous donor pays back lunch debt for entire New Hanover elementary school

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – Students at a New Hanover County elementary school are free of school lunch debt thanks to a secret Santa.

Bellamy Elementary had its entire debt balance paid off by an anonymous donor to the district’s Child Nutrition Donation webpage. That means all students with negative balances on their lunch account from buying school lunches are free of that debt.

The new donation webpage is a call to action launched by the district to combat increasing student lunch debt. Amy Stanley, the district’s Child Nutrition director, said across the district, students have a combined total of $76,000 in debt. The recent donation to Bellamy paid off around $600 of that.

New Hanover County Schools does not deny a student a school lunch. Even if their account is negative, they will still receive a full hot lunch from their school, which Stanley said was an effort to ensure students are well fed and ready to learn.

Stanley said eventually that debt has to be paid off – if not by the family, then through district funding, which then takes away from other resources and opportunities.

But Lynn Harvey, the child nutrition director for the state Department of Public Instruction, said she hopes more districts will follow in New Hanover County’s foot steps in providing a child meals despite the debt.

“We don’t want to do anything that stigmatizes or threatens a child’s self-esteem, and that’s one of the reasons that we’re seeing that meal debt increase is that those local education leaders have seen the first hand effect of hunger and the shame that often accompanies hunger,” she said.

Across the state, students have accrued more than $1.3 million in debt because of school lunches. For the last two and a half year, students ate breakfast and lunch at school for free regardless of their household income thanks to COVID-era policies and funding.

Households that fall within a certain income still qualify for free and reduced lunches, but that leaves many students who had free meals for the past two years without any financial aid.

At a federal level, new legislation is underway to expand a program called the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). It allows schools with student bodies that meet certain income demographics to provide free meals to all of its students.

Harvey said she hopes to see more done to close the gap in access to school meals.

“No child should ever feel that that’s a walk of shame,” Harvey said. A child should not be made to feel uncomfortable or ashamed that he cannot pay for their meal, that they simply do not have the money to pay for it.”

Right now, 28 New Hanover schools qualify for that. But if the current pending legislation passes, all the schools in the district would be able to give free lunches to students, regardless of economic status.

Stanley said anyone with questions on school debt balances can contact her at amy.stanley@nhcs.net. Those interested in donating can do so on the New Hanover County Schools website.

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