In the midst of the holiday season, a new report revealed that Northern Nevada parents have accrued more than $60,000 of debt due to Joe Lombardo’s veto  of guaranteed school meals. In August, because of Lombardo’s veto, Washoe County School District drained its savings meant to support staff salaries and cafeteria improvements to help fill the void for hardworking families  and cover school meals for the first month of the school year. Nevada families are spending more money this year than last on meals for their kids, with some parents going as far as starting GoFundMe fundraisers to pay off the debt. 

An independent fact check found that Joe Lombardo’s made-up excuse for vetoing guaranteed school meals for Nevada students, where he claimed they are “thrown away” by kids in “well-to-do neighborhoods”, is false. Earlier this year, Lombardo flat-out lied about vetoing this legislation that would have provided meals for public school students in an interview with the Nevada Independent, falsely saying “I didn’t veto it.” 

“At a time when families are struggling to make ends meet, Lombardo’s vetoes continue to cost Washoe parents and have now driven them into debt,” said Nevada State Democratic Party Spokesperson Tai Sims. “Even after seeing the harmful impact on hardworking families, Lombardo has continued to double down on his veto of Democrat-led legislation that would have fed hungry students to help them succeed and put money back in parents’ pockets with false claims that have been debunked by independent fact-checkers.”

Read the full story below: 

News 4: Over $60k in lunch debt this year after Nevada governor vetoed universal school lunch bill

Ben Margiott, 11/2/24

Key points:

• Tens of thousands of dollars in school lunch debt is once again accruing at northern Nevada school districts after the end of the universal free school lunch program.

• At the start of December, there was over $62,000 in school lunch debt combined at the Washoe County School District and Carson City School District, according to officials.

• Over $60k in lunch debt this year after Nevada governor vetoed universal school lunch bill

• There is roughly $45,000 in outstanding school lunch debt in the Washoe County School District and there is $17,522 in school meal debt in the Carson City School District, officials said.

• It comes after Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) vetoed a bill that would’ve allocated $43 million of state funds to continue the universal school lunch program, which was in effect since the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to federal funding.

• The increasing debt has inspired multiple people to take it upon themselves to help pay off the debt — local mother Cassie Donnan started a GoFundMe fundraiser to pay off the roughly $1,400 in debt accrued at her daughter’s school, Bohach Elementary in Sparks.

• “Sometimes this lunch is the only lunch these kids sometimes get. And the schools will not turn down a child. But that amount just keeps accruing and parents have to pay for that,” Donnan said.

• “The most important thing is that every student has access to adequate and healthy nutrition so that they can be at their best on a daily basis,” Searcy said. “We’re making sure that that basic need is fulfilled no matter what. And then we’re managing the situation with the adults to the best of our ability.”

• Legislative Democrats have vowed to introduce a bill reinstating the universal free school lunch program in the 2025 session of the state legislature.