The U.S. consumer watchdog has found that low-income families typically pay as much as 60 cents per dollar in fees when paying for school lunches electronically
Rebecca Wood stands for a portrait outside her home, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in Maynard, Mass. Wood noticed a"program fee" required each time she loaded money onto her daughter's school lunch account. Single mother Rebecca Wood, 45, was already dealing with high medical bills in 2020 when she noticed she was being charged a $2.49 “program fee” each time she loaded money onto her daughter’s school lunch account.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the federal policy on fee-free school lunch, has mandated that districts inform families of their options since 2017, but even when parents are aware, having to pay by cash or check to avoid fees can be burdensome. “A dollar here and there, I expected,” she said. “But $3.25 per transaction, especially here in rural South Carolina where the cost of living is a lot lower — as are the salaries — is a lot.”
Within those districts, the companies charge an average of $2.37 or 4.4% of the total transaction, each time money is added to a child’s account. For families with lower incomes who can’t afford to load large sums in one go, those fees can hit weekly or even more frequently, increasing costs disproportionately. Families that qualify for free or reduced lunch pay as much as 60 cents per dollar in fees when paying for school lunches electronically, according to the report.
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