Why School Lunch Debt Exists -- And How These Kids Are Wiping It Out - More Perfect Union

[TexasTowelie]

Kids across the U.S. have been organizing to win universal school meals and wipe out student lunch debt.

So far this year, Minnesota and New Mexico have passed universal school meals laws, joining California and Colorado. That’s just the start.

[Rhiannon12866]

1. K&R! We need to do this across the country!

[TexasTowelie]

2. My friend up in Grapevine told me that it cost more for the school district to comply with the

federal rules for their free meals program than to opt out and provided meals to all of the students. I suspect that is true for most school districts. The federal government needs to eliminate the income requirements and reduce the red tape within the program. Additional cooperation with the Department of Agriculture will also reduce costs, provide quality food, and also benefit the entire chain of agricultural providers.

It would be ideal if all students could opt in to receive free breakfast and lunch meals. The program also needs to be available through the summer and school districts could arrange for learning experiences since the students are behind on their development of skills because of the pandemic.

[Rhiannon12866]

3. I see TV commercials here all the time of kids who don't get to eat until they arrive at school

And I am aware of some local programs which provide meals for kids throughout the summer. They really should do that everywhere, I agree - and you're right, schools are off schedule because of the pandemic - especially the lower grades where kids just starting school were subject to numerous closings and lockdowns.

I looked up my elementary school and the rules they started out with were complicated and confusing as hell. And of course they were subject to change. I remember that they didn't plan lunch in the big lunchroom like when I was there, they split the kids up so there wasn't a big group sitting together. And I know where I am now there were numerous closings when there was an outbreak, usually traced to a teacher.

[Phoenix61]

4. Explain to me how it would be cheaper for a school to

pay 100% of the cost of feeding students than filing for federal money to help pay for feeding those same students.

[TexasTowelie]

5. It's on the back end with the additional administrative personnel that they have to hire

to monitor each students eligibility status (which can change during the school year) and also complete the bureaucratic paperwork. They also have to collect the application forms and proof of income for the students in the program. The administrators also have to track the number of students that receive free, reduced-price, and full pay meals served and income generated on a daily basis.

Obviously, there is a lot of money being spent on bean-counting in the program rather than bean eating. Even if the cost is not cheaper to buy food for everyone, the hassle of dealing with the requirements plus other tangential risks such as data breaches may make it worthwhile overall. From a personal perspective, I don't recall ever having to indicate even the income range that my parent's earned so I don't know if I would want a school district to have that information.

[Phoenix61]

6. Except they don't monitor income. The expectation is

caregivers will report changes. The meal counts are computer generated.

[TexasTowelie]

7. Poor word choice on my part, yes the caregivers are responsible for reporting changes in income.

However, it will still require administrative oversight to include newly eligible students. I also don't have any clue whether families have to complete the forms on an annual basis or if the eligibility carries forward from either the school or calendar year.

I also don't know whether the meal counts are computer generated (although they should be able to get it from a point of sale system). I don't know much about the school system in Grapevine other than what my friend who had children in the district told me. However, there are two high schools and multiple other campuses in the school district using multiple cafeterias so someone still has to consolidate, analyze, and report that information. I doubt that all of these tasks were being handled by one person considering that there are nearly 14,000 students in the school district.