The debt from past-due school lunch accounts in the North Mason School District typically adds up to thousands of dollars, and a Grapeview couple wanted to do something about it.
So, for the month of March, Jim and Shauna Biermann walked 2 miles a day to raise money to help erase the school lunch debt at the North Mason School District.
From 28 donors, the Biermanns raised $2,640 to help shrink the debt. At the end of March, families in the district owed a little more than $3,600.
“I wanted to be able to do something,” Shauna Biermann said. “I was not surprised to see how many people gave. People are very giving. If it’s a very specific request, people will give.”
Shauna Biermann learned about the national school lunch debt issue on the radio while driving in her car in July. Once the school started in the fall, she set out to learn more about the issue locally.
Thanks to a federal grant, all students at the district’s elementary schools receive a free breakfast and a free lunch if they choose. But at the secondary level, families are still responsible for making sure their student has enough money for breakfast and lunch.
As students get older, fewer parents fill out the application for free or reduced-priced lunch. Some students don’t give their parents the application because of the stigma of receiving a free meal, said Ashley Supry, director of business and finance at North Mason School District.
The school lunch debt fluctuates throughout the year, often dipping around tax season as parents receive tax refunds and pay down their amounts, Supry said. The debt has been as high as $6,000 in the last year.
The district does make attempts to collect, reminding parents when their balances are low. The district does have a policy wherein students may be removed from extracurricular activities or be withheld their diploma if they owe the district any money.
“Yet, we tend to waive all of those,” North Mason Superintendent Dana Rosenbach said.
The cost of a school lunch is federally mandated at $3.25, while the cost for a breakfast is $2.
The Biermanns wrote letters to family and friends about their mission and even used $150 of their own money for a prize — for anyone who donated $1 per mile, the Biermanns would enter them into a drawing for a $150 gift certificate to Anthony’s restaurant.
They walked 2 miles each day in Grapeview, at the Theler Wetlands and in Texas while visiting their son, getting in their walks in at movie theater parking lots if need be.
“We are Christians,” said Shauna Biermann, who years ago completed another walk-a-thon to raise money for a family camp for children with special needs. “We do a lot of volunteer work around the world. It’s in our DNA. This experience has been really fun and educational.”
