From Texas. When I was in elementary school circa 2000, we had a running balance that our parents could contribute to via written checks.
My parents were going through a divorce back then, and in the pinging back and forth between my parents houses, it always gave me so much anxiety buying lunch at school. You wouldn't know if your account could cover what you picked up in the lunch line until you got to the cashier at the end. AND if it couldn't, they would literally take all of the food you put on your tray and give you a PB&J sandwich.
Having elementary school kids keep up with their balances was tough, and even when I did remember, if I were with my dad, he would refuse to give lunch money to my sister and me because "that's what child support is for."
It just sucked all around and made me feel like the smallest human on earth. And I know that this experience here was not unique to me.