Gasconade County R-2 officials on July 20 announced $7,000 of forgiven lunch debt in addition to approving a partial Provision 2 Waiver to provide free breakfasts to students in the 2026-27 school year.

Superintendent Dr. Staci Johnson shared with the board of education that the outstanding lunch debt was paid for with donated funds from the community.

“We had over $7,000 of debt from different students that has been sitting on the books for a few years,” Johnson said. “It’s not been paid off. Families may not even know those fines are still there. We wanted to be able to give families a chance to start at zero instead of coming in with debt.”

The district has an account where community members and organizations can donate money to help balance unpaid lunch accounts.

“We have an account that people in the community or organizations can donate specifically for student lunch debt, and we were able to cancel out the majority of the debt,” Johnson said. “But a little bit remained.”

Johnson, who is a member of the Lions Club in Owensville, requested help from the organization to help pay off the remaining $1,300 in lunch debt.

“I asked if they’d be willing to support and they discussed it at their meeting and came back with a $3,000 check,” Johnson said.

Funds allowed the district to pay off the remaining $1,300 of debt and begin the 2026-27 school year with $1,700 in the community lunch fund.

“When we have a family who doesn’t qualify for free/reduced meals but is struggling to pay for student lunches, or a senior who has a lunch bill that’s going to keep them — it’s sitting there, ready for the next time we have a family that needs assistance. We will have a nest egg to start,” she said.

The district’s family/school liaisons also work to ensure the funds are distributed appropriately.

In addition to beginning the year with a clean slate in student lunch accounts, the board also announced its approval of a partial Provision 2 Waiver.

“For the last two years, we’ve had a full Provision 2 Waiver, which means we were providing free meals for all students, and we were getting reimbursed a certain percentage of those meals,” Johnson said. “Originally, when the board approved the waiver, we anticipated it would cost around $200,000 a year. The board was fine with investing that because we had reserves. Over the last two years, it has ballooned to a $500,000 investment.”

As the board prepares to move forward into the 2026-27 school year with uncertain revenue streams from state and local funding, they determined during the June 29 meeting that continuing the Provision 2 Waiver wasn’t financially feasible.

“We decided to go to a partial waiver this coming year,” Johnson said.

The compromise was to provide all students with free breakfast.

“Parents can still apply for the free/reduced lunch program by filling out the form,” Johnson added.

The form can be filled out at any time, but to be in place when classes begin on Aug. 24, parents must submit it now.

“The federal program won’t retroactively pay for the meals,” Johnson explained.

Johnson said the district charges $2.90 for lunch for elementary students and $3 per meal for all other students. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) currently recommends student lunch prices be at $4.20 per meal. However, districts may only raise prices a maximum of 10 cents each year.

“Our lunch prices are still far below what the state is recommending,” Johnson said.