Woburn Will Use Collection Agency For Unpaid School Lunch Bills

WOBURN, MA — The Woburn School Committee approved a policy that will allow school officials to refer unpaid school lunch bills to a collection agency. The policy affects any school lunch account that has a balance more than 60 days in arrears and comes as the school system deals with $48,000 in unpaid lunch bills in the 2017-18 school year. School officials will not deprive students of food under the new policy, which takes effect at the start of the 2019-20 school year.

"I think it strikes a good balance," school committee member John Wells said. "We spent years talking about this and couldn't come up with a solution. This is a good sign that the administration is working together to solve problems."

The new policy also includes a provision that provides free lunches to students who qualify for discounted school lunches under federal guidelines. The school committee had considered implementing the new policy as soon as 30 days after it was passed, but opted to wait until the start of the next school year.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).