Collin Altic, a 14-year-old freshman from Willard High School in
Willard, Missouri, recently found himself the victim of a new policy
aimed at reducing the amount of money lost annually in school lunch charges.
When Altic attempted to pay for his lunch earlier this week, he was
told that he’d have to return his tray because his school lunch account
didn’t have enough of a balance to cover the purchase.
Administrators explained that the new policy, which is in place only
in the district’s high school, forbids any charges that puts the account
into a negative balance. With 4,000 kids the overages were taking a
real bite out of the school budget. Last year, Willard School District
had to eat more than $20,000 in debit lunch payments that were never
made up.
