To help settle $2.8 million in school lunch debt, Gov. Cox finds $1.2 million. What about the rest?

Students eat lunch at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School in South Salt Lake on Tuesday, March 12, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)

As school districts across Utah face roughly $2.8 million in unpaid school lunch debt this year, Gov. Spencer Cox this week announced he would be funneling $1.2 million in federal funds to start a new grant program to help schools pay off the balances. 

Cox redirected the funds from the American Rescue Plan’s Emergency Assistance to Non-Public Schools to the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Program, effectively creating a new grant in the state’s grants system. The American Rescue Plan Act allowed unobligated funds initially set aside for non-public schools to be redirected, according to the governor’s office.

Through the new grant program, school districts can apply for reimbursement of school lunch debt stemming from low-income families. 

“Our students are the future of Utah, and investing in their health and education is vital to the success of our state,” Cox said in a news release. “We are committed to ensuring Utah students receive the meals they need. I am grateful for the cooperation of the State Board of Education, our schools and districts.”

The new grant program addresses almost half of this year’s school lunch debt problem for certain families, but what about the rest? And what about future years? 

Leading up to Cox’s announcement this week, private partners and some lawmakers including Rep. Tyler Clancy, R-Provo, and Sen. Kathleen Reibe, D-Cottonwood Heights, have been trying to find solutions to the issue. 

They highlighted their efforts in an XSpaces discussion hosted by Silicon Slopes last week. Clancy during the 2024 legislative session proposed lawmakers fund about $4 million to expand free school meals to families that qualify for reduced-price lunches. That proposal did not get funded and failed — but Clancy said he’ll keep trying. 

Clint Betts, executive director of Silicon Slopes, a nonprofit led by Utah tech and business leaders, posted a video on X this week expanding on Silicon Slopes’ efforts to find solutions to Utah’s school lunch debt dilemma while applauding Cox’s announcement.  

“This is incredible,” Betts said. “Thank you, governor, for your leadership on this issue.” 

However, Betts said there’s more work to be done. He said Silicon Slopes had been raising money in partnership with the Utah Lunch Debt Relief Foundation, and Silicon Slopes has been donating its membership fees, but “that alone won’t solve this problem.” 

So, Betts said in coming weeks Silicon Slopes is planning on launching a program along with the Utah Debt Relief Foundation, where Utah companies can “adopt” one of Utah’s 41 school districts to help get their school lunch debt balances to zero. 

“Our goal is to get the rest of that $2.8 million paid off by the end of the year,” Betts said. “I don’t know if we can do that. I’ve never really done something like this before, but we’re going to try.” 

Betts pointed to local news stories about a 12-year-old boy from West Haven who died of severe malnutrition, according to police. Three of the boy’s family members were arrested in July, accused of causing the boy’s death after years of abuse. In wake of the boy’s death, a cafeteria worker spoke out to KSL TV, saying she and another cafeteria worker became concerned about the boy starting several years ago, noticing him rummaging through the trash for food. 

The cafeteria workers said they started paying for the boy’s lunches even though school officials advised them not to because they wanted to encourage families experiencing hardship to fill out forms for reduced or free lunch, KSL TV reported. 

“The system is broken,” she told the station. 

Betts said Utah children simply should not be going hungry, no matter the issue. 

“No child should ever be stigmatized for not being able to pay for school lunch or told they have  a negative balance that they need to go home and tell their parents about,” Betts said. “Of course no child should ever go without food at school or anywhere else for that matter. We live in the greatest state in the greatest country in the world. This should not be a problem.” 

Rather than looking for someone or something to blame, Betts said Utahns and their leaders should focus on solutions, pointing to Clancy and Reibe’s bipartisan work. 

“If we can show the Legislature and all Utahns how much we care about this issue, I’m hopeful it can be addressed in a permanent solution produced in January’s legislative session,” Betts said. 

Betts said everyone can agree, no matter their political standings, that kids should not starve, especially in schools.

“We all care about our kids not going hungry. Let’s start there,” Betts said. “If we address problems head on, searching for solutions instead of attacks, Utah can be an example of how to get things done in today’s polarized political environment.”