Upper Adams SD board considers sending largest unpaid cafeteria accounts to collections as debt totals near $45,000

Mrs. Hobbs reported that unpaid cafeteria balances have accumulated to about $45,000 over multiple years, with roughly a $10,000 increase this school year. She said the district is following Policy 808 and listed outreach and administrative steps Chartwells (the food-service vendor) has taken, including payment plans and some recent account payoffs.

Board member Wallmer urged a firm approach, recommending the top 10 highest unpaid accounts be sent to collections and that the board escalate further groups of accounts in subsequent steps if the balances do not decline. "We'll give it a few weeks, a month ... and if that debt doesn't go down substantially, we're going to move to the next 10 highest balances, and those will go to the debt collector," he said.

Other members urged caution and asked staff to look at alternative models used by other districts, including some districts that absorb lunch costs or adopt different collection strategies. Mrs. Hobbs and administrators said they would gather more data and report back; Chartwells provided examples of recent outreach and some payoffs but administrators noted there is no single established best model that solves unpaid balances for every district.

Board members emphasized the district's legal obligation to feed students regardless of payment status, and some members recommended pairing collection efforts with additional outreach, payment-plan options and research into successful community models.

Next steps: staff will return with more data and recommendations for board action at a future meeting; the board signaled willingness to consider targeted collections if administrative options do not sufficiently reduce the balance.