OSAKIS, Minn. – Many school administrators are struggling to get students to pay off their overdue lunch bills, and some have resorted to reporting them to a collections agency.

The problem in the Minnesota’s Osakis school district stems from declining lunch room revenues that are likely tied to changes in the National School Lunch Program promoted by first lady Michelle Obama. In schools across the country, cafeteria revenues have plummeted since tighter federal restrictions on calories, fat, sugar, sodium, and other nutritional components were imposed on schools in 2012.

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Nationally, more than 1.2 million students no longer eat their government-approved lunch.

Osakis schools’ food budget was about $15,000 in the red at the end of last school year and the lost income is worrying district leaders, The Osakis Review reports.

“There is a gap between revenue in the lunch program and disbursements (or expenses),” superintendent Joe Broderick told board members this month.

The district’s 2014-15 count for full-price, free, and reduced-price lunches were all down from last year. In total, the district served 109,965 lunches in 2014-15, about 4,225 fewer than the year before, according to the site.

“Average daily attendance was down 73 from 871 to 798, and average daily participation in the program was down 34 from 662 to 628 this past year,” the Review reports.

Of the total net loss for the year of $14,918, more than $6,000 of it was due to students not paying off their unpaid lunch fees.

“We sent out a lot of letters,” Broderick said. “We have a collection agency, as well.”

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Osakis school board members believe the lunch program’s deficit is now simply a fact of life for most public schools, unless the state increases per-pupil aid to provide all students lunch for free.

“You are going to have to run this program in the red,” board member Tom Grundman said, according to the Review. “Many school districts run in the red. We have not in the past, but most district do.”

For now, school officials seem content to simply increase lunch costs for students, a move that’s also precipitated by federal lunch rules.

“The price of school lunches will increase by 10 cents in the coming school year because of state and federal guidelines that recommend lunch prices be set at $2.70. Osakis has been increasing its lunch price by 10 cents per year the past several years in an attempt to get closer to the federal guidelines,” the news site reports.

“Meals will rise from $1.85 for elementary to $1.95; from $1.95 to $2.05 for secondary; and breakfast from $1.35 to $1.45. Adults will go from $3.65 per meal to $3.75 next year. The School Board approved the increase in lunch prices.”

In other places, like Iowa’s Boone Community School District, officials are tweaking the delinquent lunch policy in hopes of recovering more money from students who owe, the Ames Tribune reports.

“Superintendent Brad Manard said at last week’s board meeting that there were 255 lunch accounts that had a negative balance at the end of the 2014-15 school year, totaling approximately $8,500,” according to the site.

“In addition, 1,653 students with negative lunch account balances have moved out of the district, leaving “big balances” stemming back several years that have never been paid off.”

District officials have sent email and paper notices of parents with past due accounts, and has attempted to take some to small claims court in the past, though the cost of recovering the funds through the court system is typically more than students owe, officials said.

“It’s been a challenge for us,” Manard said.

In previous years school officials would allow students to get behind by up to $50 before taking action – forcing them to eat a sack lunch instead of school food. Officials reduced that threshold to $25 in hopes that parents will be more likely to stay current, the Tribune reports.

“When elementary students’ accounts reach this level, those who have a reduced or non-free lunch status can either pay cash for their meal or receive an alternate breakfast (toast and milk) or full sack lunch. Elementary students who qualify for free meals and have paperwork on file for this will still receive a regular lunch,” according to the news site.

“Middle school and high school students whose accounts reach the negative $25 balance limit can pay cash for their meal. Like at the elementary level, middle and high school students who qualify for free meals and have paperwork on file will receive a regular lunch. Students will not be able to charge sack or ala carte items to their accounts if they have a zero or negative balance.”

Those new rules will go into effect next school year.