“Principal Vance gets the final audit printout Friday afternoon at four,” Irene said.

“If an account stays unpaid past fifteen dollars, the automated system flags the file and sends it on to the county agency.”

“How many kids are on that list right now?” I asked.

“Twenty-three second graders,” Irene said softly.

“I tracked every one of them in my ledger before I retired, but the new software won’t allow manual extensions.”

“What’s the total unpaid balance for the whole building?” I asked.

“Nine hundred eight dollars and forty cents,” Irene said.