The U.S. Department of Agriculture is having trouble passing the turkey to public schools for Thanksgiving lunch.

There isn't a shortage - the turkeys are just too skinny because of an unusually hot summer. That means supplies are tighter and prices are higher.

Supermarkets generally get first dibs on turkey and other commodities. When there is a surplus or prices are low enough, the Agriculture Department buys some and passes the goods along to government-subsidized food programs, such as school lunches. Not this year.

''Even though we've put out word we want to buy turkey, they're not selling it to USDA,'' said Billy Cox, spokesman for the Agricultural Marketing Service.

Many schools that usually get supplies through USDA's commodity program have been forced to find alternate sources of the bird.

Wylie Independent School District served Thanksgiving meals Wednesday, but cooks had to use all the turkeys they had - including unused whole frozen birds delivered last school year.

''If we didn't have leftovers from last year, we would have had a problem,'' said Diana Horton, WISD food services director. Turkeys have never been a problem before, Horton said.

In the Abilene Independent School District, Thanksgiving lunch was served to school children and adults without a hitch, said Nancy Webb, a food service supervisor for AISD. There was enough turkey, which was pre-sliced and bought from Jennie-O through the USDA, to make 10,000 meals, Webb said, although she didn't know how many turkey meals were eaten.

The National Turkey Federation said there is plenty of turkey available for the nation's Thanksgiving.

''We do hope everybody will have the opportunity to have turkey at the table,'' said Sherrie Rosenblatt, spokeswoman for the federation. ''Even with markets tight this year, I'm sure there are other ways in which food banks or feeding programs are finding ways to provide.''

While prices for turkey producers are the highest in years, Rosenblatt said grocery shoppers probably won't see it at the store.

''We're still seeing a lot of specials running throughout the country, where supermarkets are using whole turkeys as a way to get you into the store to buy the rest of your Thanksgiving dinner,'' she said.

Christmas should be better. Market conditions are easing, and the Agriculture Department is already buying turkey for delivery in December, said Susan Acker, spokeswoman for the Food and Nutrition Service, which runs the school lunch program.

EDITED BY: PATTI STEELE; COPY EDITED BY: JEFF WOLF; HEADLINE BY: JEFF WOLF