Submitted Photo Minot High School seniors, from the left, Cooper Fjeld, Avery Dodd and Hudson Copp are the principal organizers of MPS No Lunch Debt, a community service project seeking to pay off the Minot Public School District’s lunch debt.

Despite the North Dakota Legislature rejecting a bill on Feb 24 which would have provided free school meals for all North Dakota K-12, Minot High School students have stepped up to raise money to pay off the district’s school lunch debt.

MHS senior Avery Dodd said she first had the idea for the initiative in the spring of 2024. After some planning, Dodd pitched her plan to the MHS Future Business Leaders of America Club as a community service project named MPS No Lunch Debt.

“For a lot of kids, their school lunches are the one hot meal a day they get. Not everyone is fortunate enough to go home and have dinner ready,” Dodd said. “It just creates a lot of financial stress and anxiety on parents, and sometimes even on the students because they have no say over it. It’s an anxiety passed on to them.”

Dodd and fellow FBLA students Cooper Fjeld and Hudson Copp worked out the logistics for the project, which required the approval of the MPS administration before it could move forward. The students have reached out to 50 local businesses and organizations for donations, of which five have responded with contributions totaling just shy of $6,000 so far.

“Our goal is to pay off the district’s lunch debt. Right now it’s around $20,000, but the nutrition services director said it does get around that $40,000 mark,” Dodd said. “Going into this, we knew the chance of completely paying off that debt would be pretty much near impossible, but we did want to put a large dent into that number. Once we get a larger collection of funds we’ll start distributing that out to different schools.”

Fjeld said nutrition was critical for students of all ages to learn, and to develop mentally and physically throughout the school year.

“As high schoolers we’re constantly growing in both of those areas, so we need to have the proper nutrition so that we can be functional adults and successful students,” Fjeld said. “It’s where the rudiments of you being a person and school come from. Those elementary students need it the most, if anything.”

Fjeld said MHS students are typically informed by lunchroom staff if their balance dips into the red, which often occurs in front of their peers. Minot Public Schools district policy requires that school meals may not be denied to a student who requests one regardless of if they have an unpaid balance. Students are served the regular meal being offered as alternative meal options are not allowed. Unpaid balances also do not result in students missing out on school activities or extracurriculars.

The district notifies the parents of a student of the unpaid balance through a variety of means, and will also encourage parents to pursue a free or reduced meal application. Families who qualify for the free and reduced price meal program may earn up to 200% of the federal poverty level, and are required to apply annually. However, Lisa Wolf, the FBLA adviser, noted there was little gray area for families if their income exceeds the limit by even $5.

“It would be a lot easier on families, because you’re going to spend a lot more than that $5 on lunches in a year. A lot of people say, ‘just apply for free and reduced,’ but that’s easier said than done,” Wolf said.

House Bill 1013, the budget bill for the Department of Public Instruction, was advanced by the House at the end of February and included language to extend the limit for free and reduced lunch to 225% of the federal poverty line.

The MHS FBLA will present its service project at the state FBLA competition in Bismarck on March 30-April 1 for a chance to take part in the national competition in Anaheim, California.

“Everyone always says, ‘the children are our future,’ so if we can help them get the best education that they can, which involves having a nutritious lunch and getting what their body needs to get through the school day I think that is something that will ensure that,” Dodd said.

Those interested in supporting MPS No Lunch Debt are encouraged to email the organization at mpsnomorelunchdebt@gmail.com or call 857-4546.