Student Lunch Program Balances

Student Lunch Program Balances
Posted on 01/21/2020
Student Lunch

Metro Nashville Public Schools understands the importance and value of giving every child access to nutritious meals that feed the body and mind and makes for a productive educational environment.

Metro Schools Community Eligibility Program

From 2014 to 2018, Metro Schools qualified for a grant program that made every lunch throughout our district free to all students. However, due to a decline in the amount of families seeking family assistance, the entire district was no longer eligible to participate in this program and MNPS did not have enough funding to continue the program.

Most Metro Schools qualify for the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) which gives every student, regardless of income, access to a free meal. Twenty-nine schools are not eligible for this program and as a result, students are charged the cost of a meal unless they fill out and qualify for the free and reduced lunch program. Applications for the free and reduced lunch program can be processed at any point during the school year.

Paying Balances

Parents and students can pay for lunch through a variety of ways:

Under NO circumstances will a student be shamed or denied access to a meal at one of our Metro Schools, regardless of any outstanding balances or ability to pay. Metro Schools reminds families about outstanding balances on their student's account through letters home and telephone callouts.

It is ultimately the responsibility of individual schools to settle outstanding balances or to use funds from their school-based budget to cover uncollected charges. This can put a strain on individual schools operating on tight budgets who must reduce expenditures in other areas in order to pay off outstanding balances.

How to Help

At a recent Metro Schools Board of Education meeting, Chair Anna Shepherd called on the community to help retire uncollected debts at Metro Schools so they do not have to reduce necessary expenditures elsewhere to cover the costs.

Below is a list of schools with balances greater than $200 as of Jan. 15, 2020.

You can donate to individual schools by sending a check to the address listed on each school's website with a note that funds are designated to retire student lunch debt for the school.

Schools and Balances Owed

Andrew Jackson Elementary, -$1,608.35

Bellevue Middle, -$5,456.33

Casa Azafran ELC, -$284.50

Crieve Hall Elementary, -$1,738.99

Dan Mills Elementary, -$3,456.40

Eakin Elementary, -$1,247.62

Gower Elementary, -$219.19

Granbery Elementary, -$2,684.20

Harpeth Valley Elementary, -$1,071.47

Head Magnet Middle, -$2,678.64

Hillsboro High, -$9,565.75

Hume-Fogg Magnet, -$2,186.69

Julia Green Elementary, -$285.92

Meigs Middle Magnet, -$588.78

MLK Magnet High, -$3,659.09

Nashville School of Arts, -$4,120.00

Oliver Middle, -$10,023.10

Paragon Mills Elementary, -$633.25

Rose Park Magnet Middle, -$2,288.34

Shayne Elementary, -$3,862.40

Sylvan Park Elementary, -$1,046.18

Waverly Belmont Elementary, -$1,143.18

West End Middle, -$2,505.91

Westmeade Elementary, -$2,223.67

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