PA District Rejects Philly CEO's Offer To Pay Student Lunch Debts

PHILADELPHIA — In the wake of a viral letter to parents of the Wyoming Valley West School District that threatened to put children in foster care if their parents didn't pay outstanding school lunch debts, a Philadelphia CEO stepped up to help.

However, Todd Carmichael, CEO of La Colombe coffee roasters here in Philly, had his charitable offer rejected.

The district's letter went viral last week when it made the rounds on local and national news outlets

According to Carmichael's representative, the businessman offered up $22,467 to the district to settle the debt.

Ultimately, Wyoming Valley West School District School Board president Joseph Mazur rejected Carmichael's offer after Carmichael's representatives tried to contact district officials but never heard back from them.

Mazur told Carmichael's people that he believed the parents could afford to settle their respective debts. But Carmichael, whose family received food assistance when he was a boy, simply wanted to wipe the slate clean to stop the calls, letters, and threats to Wyoming Valley West School District parents.

"I know what it means to be hungry," Carmichael wrote in an op-ed published in news outlets around the district. "I know what it means to feel shame for not being able to afford food."

He called Mazur's rejection "callous and cruel" and also accused him of neglecting his fiduciary duty to the district by turning down funding.

"By saying no, you are not just shaming families who elected you, but you are placing this burden on WVW taxpayers, and that is completely unfair," he wrote.

According to his representative, Carmichael's offer still stands.