A number of families in the Knoxville School District are behind on their school lunch account payments; but the district’s superintendent says they’re making progress on reducing the amount owed.

Cassi Pearson says prior to 2016, students continued to eat and accumulate debt which the school district had difficulty collecting on. But she tells KNIA/KRLS News changes were made that year to limit how much debt an individual student’s family can carry; and the state now just requires the school district to go back to those original accounts and continue to collect.

“So in 2016 we actually had over $45,500 of debt; we have whittled that down because people have been paying on those accounts, and we currently sit at $35,200. So we have over $10,000 that we have collected over the last few years, and we will continue to collect on that debt because it’s state law…and encourage families that as they have a little extra they can pay off any deficit accounts,” Pearson says.

It’s important for the district to settle accounts with a student by the time they graduate, so Pearson encourages parents to pay it off as soon as they can.