The $100M school lunch scam: how parents are cheated EVERY time they pay for their kids' meals
Daily MailMany parents barely notice the processing fees when they use the pre-paid system to cover their children's school lunches. More schools are turning to cashless systems that parents use to pre-pay for their kid's lunches Rohit Chopra, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, says the systems often push 'excessive fees' on hard-up families As more schools turn to cashless payment systems, district chiefs have contracted with processing firms that charge as much as $3.25 or 4-5 percent per transaction, CFBP says. She was already dealing with high medical bills in 2020 when she noticed she was being charged a $2.49 'program fee' each time she loaded money onto her daughter's school lunch account. Parents can pay as much as $3.25 to add funds to their child's school lunch payment account Some 20 companies provide such systems to schools, but just three firms — MySchoolBucks, SchoolCafe, and LINQ Connect — dominate the market, researchers found.
History of this topic
USDA bans school lunch fees for low-income families
Associated Press
USDA to eliminate school lunch fees for low-income families
LA Times
School lunch fees are taking a toll on parents, U.S. consumer watchdog finds
LA TimesUS consumer watchdog finds that school lunch fees are taking a toll on parents
Associated PressFamilies forced to cut back on school lunches as cost of living drives up food insecurity
ABC
Next stress for many parents: First school lunch bills since 2020
CNN
Dinner lady forced to deny children school food because ‘there’s no money’
The Independent
The Impending School Lunch Disaster
Slate
USDA pumps $750 million into school lunch program to counter inflation, supply chain woes
CNN
Free school meals for all children can improve kids’ health
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