District Will Now Accept Philly CEO's Donation For Lunch Debts

PHILADELPHIA — After garnering national attention for threatening to put children in foster care if their parents did not pay their school lunch debt, a Pennsylvania school district said it will now accept the donation from a Philadelphia CEO to cancel more than $22,000 in outstanding lunch debts.

The Wyoming Valley West School District Board of Directors Wednesday published an apology letter, which also said it would accept La Colombe Coffee Roasters CEO Todd Carmichael's donation.

Carmichael offered a donation of $22,467 to the district to settle the debt.

However, his charitable effort was rejected by the board president, Joseph Mazur.

Mazur said he believed the parents were able to pay off the debts.

Carmichael penned an op-ed that ran in several news outlets in the district's area, criticizing Mazur's rejection.

But Wednesday's letter said they would take the donation and put it in the Wyoming Valley West Educational Foundation to eliminate the debt owed by the parents.

One of Carmichael's representatives said they are incredibly optimistic about the donation helping affected families and hope for a quick resolution.

The letter also apologized for the language in letters sent to parents with outstanding lunch debts. The letter said parents who did not pay the debts could have their children taken from them and placed in foster care.

"The Wyoming Valley West School District Board of Directors sincerely apologizes for the tone of the letter that was sent regarding lunch debt," the letter reads. "It wasn’t the intention of the district to harm or inconvenience any of the families of our school district."

The letter went on to say the district now qualifies for the Community Eligibility Program, which means all district students will get free breakfast and lunch in all of its schools for the next five years regardless of income.