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Friday, March 09, 2012

Ohio School District Hires Collection Agency to Go After Unpaid Lunch Money

An Ohio school district has hired a collection agency to prove to students and their parents that there’s no such thing as a free lunch.

The Columbus City Schools hope to recover an estimated $900,000 in unpaid lunch money from almost 6,000 students. The district loses roughly $2,622 every school day in unpaid lunches, according to a report on NBC4i.com. Most of the delinquent accounts average between $150 and $170, according to Meade and Associates, the collection agency in Westerville hired by the district to collect the money.

“Our goal is to recover the balance in full,” Sean Meade, client relations manager, told msnbc.com. But he added, “we’re here to help,” so if “payment arrangements are needed, we’ll work with the family.”

Columbus City Schools did not return a call from msnbc.com. Unpaid-for lunches are not unique to Columbus. Across the country, districts are struggling as the ailing economy brings more students to school without lunch money.
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