Columbus Schools "Almost Certain" to Take Community Eligibility Option on Lunch Program Next Year

Columbus (OH) City Schools are "almost certain" to participate in the USDA's Community Eligibility Option next year, a move that would provide free lunches to all of the district's 51,000 students, reports the Columbus Dispatch. Columbus has a free/reduced percentage of around 80 percent but has been running a deficit of around $1.75 million a year in part because of uncollected lunch dues.

In 2012 the district engaged a collection agency to recover nearly a million dollars in unpaid lunch fees from 6,000 student families. Columbus Schools' meal program returned to self-operation last year after several years of outsourcing.