The Iola school district might have solved the $340,000 problem Tuesday evening. Students who qualify for free and reduced lunches but don’t utilize the assistance program cost the Iola school district $2,000 per student each year.
That coupled with those same parents often reneging on paying for the regularly priced school lunch, to the tune of $30,000 to $40,000 each year, costs the district an estimated $340,000 annually, according to USD 257 Superintendent of Schools Brian Pekarek.
“There is a stigma to filling out free- and reduced-lunch applications,”…
