Tacoma Public Schools students wrote thank you notes to Richard Sherman this week after the former Seahawk donated money to help pay off student meal debt.
Students at Roosevelt Elementary School wrote the notes.
Sherman donated more than $20,000 earlier this week to help pay off an increasing amount of student meal debt for Tacoma students.
“We have about 6,500 students across the district who have some level of debt on their accounts, and this goes a long way in helping those families get a fresh start, wipe out the debt, relieve a lot of stress for them,” District spokesman Dan Voelpel said.
During the month of November, the Ruth Foundation in Pierce County also gave Tacoma Public Schools a $151,000 grant to help eliminate the student lunch debt.
TPS estimated as of October 2019 the amount of school meal debt associated with current students was over $180,000.
Because of the Ruth Foundation and Sherman's donation, the district said it's close to wiping out all the lunch debt held by students.
The grants and donations come as many school districts enter their second year of dealing with school meal debt.
The Hungry-Free Students' Bill of Rights, also known as ESHB 2610, was signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee in 2018.
The bill prohibits school personnel and volunteers from taking any action that would publicly identify a student who cannot pay for a school meal. The intent was to stop what's commonly referred to as "lunch shaming." However, it's led to unintended consequences, such as mounting debt for school districts across the state.