Sioux City schools to refer unpaid meal accounts over $300 to collection agency after board vote

Sioux City — The Sioux City Community School District Board of Directors voted 5–2 on Aug. 25 to allow the district to pursue outside collections for unpaid student meal accounts of $300 or more after staff said unpaid balances have grown substantially since COVID-era universal free meals.

The board’s action followed a presentation from Angela Bemis, a district staff member, who described the district’s unpaid lunch balance proposal and said the district had exhausted its usual outreach efforts. “We always give students a lunch. So every student gets a lunch regardless if they have money or not,” Bemis said during the meeting.

Why it matters: District staff told the board the unpaid balances are large enough that the district’s nutrition program cannot sustainably carry them. If collections recover even a fraction of the debt, staff said it could reduce pressure on district accounts or the need to shift general-fund dollars to cover cafeteria shortfalls.

Staff briefing and context: Bemis told the board that for the three years during which lunches were free districtwide, unpaid balances accumulated and the district now carries semester balances that approach $80,000 to $90,000. She said that as of May 27 the district showed $79,628 in outstanding lunch debt and that 53 student accounts…