Goffstown Turns Down Gift and Sues Families Over Lunch Debt Instead

by DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org

GOFFSTOWN, NH — After rejecting an offer from a local church to pay off all student lunch debt, Goffstown School District Business Administrator Scott Gross is instead taking families to court.

Goffstown’s School Board approved a policy last year allowing Gross to sue families with delinquent debt in small claims court. Around the same time that policy was approved, Rev. Jason Wells at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church offered to cancel the debts. Instead, around 10 families are now being sued by the district.

Wells told InDepthNH.org on Friday he spoke to Gross about the parish’s offer to make an end of year Christmas gift to the district. Parishioners wanted to pay off all outstanding student lunch debt at the end of the calendar year, then estimated to be between $3,000 and $5,000. But Gross was not interested in the offer, Wells said.

Any gift to the district needs approval from the board, and Gross told Wells, “I would speak against it at the School Board.”

Neither Gross nor SAU 19 Superintendent Brian Balke were available to speak when InDepthNH.org went to the district offices on Friday. The two officials also did not respond to a message left for them with staff.

It’s not clear if the St. Matthew’s offer was ever discussed with the Board. Chair Heather Trzepacz did not respond to a request for comment.

At the time, Gross said he was concerned the gift would lead to more families not paying for student lunches, according to Wells.

Gross first informed the Board at the August meeting he had initiated the lawsuits, per its policy. Gross said many families with debt ignored multiple collection letters from the district.

“I’m talking about well over six to seven letters,” Gross said. “We don’t refuse kids meals, and some of them have gotten over $1,500.”

But Wells said his parishioners were more than willing to make sure the debts were paid.

“Part of the confounding nature of this is that it appears Scott Gross did not want us to pay off all the debt, but when it came time to make a decision this summer he decided to pursue these lawsuits,” Wells said.

As for the dollars and cents, Wells can’t see how going to court is a good use of district resources.

“I have to run a church budget, I understand fiscal responsibility,” Wells said.

Some of the small claims cases involve as little as $150, Wells said. After subtracting the $90 filing fee and Gross’s time working on the cases, it does not leave much for the district to collect, Wells said.

SAU 19 includes Goffstown and New Boston, and Wells said there are pockets of rural poverty throughout the communities. While children in poor families can qualify for free or reduced meals at school, those children are reliant on parents or guardians to apply for that assistance. Some parents are too proud to take the aid, or some are distrustful of the government, Wells said.

There are also cases of children in homes where the parents are simply unable to navigate the assistance applications and requirements.

Wells and the St. Matthew’s community are now raising money to pay the debt for any family the district takes to court. So far, the parish is working on about $950 in debt for families who have reached out.

One of the arguments against St. Matthew’s helping that Gross raised with Wells last year, is that some of the families don’t qualify under the guidelines as poor and should therefore be made to pay. A blanket gift for all the debt would be helping people who did not deserve the assistance. But for Wells, that’s not the point. He cited Catholic author and activist Dorothy Day who said, “The Gospel takes away our right forever to discriminate between the deserving and the undeserving poor.”

This article first appeared on InDepthNH.org and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.