TOPEKA — Kansas Board of Education member Dennis Hershberger interrupted a presentation on school nutrition programs during his first meeting as a board member by inquiring about ideological justification for government spending on summer meals for children.
“How did that evolve?” said Hershberger, among three new Republicans on the board. “What created that need?”
In addition to curiosity about what justified the summer meal program, Hershberger asked what was being done in school cafeterias across Kansas to eliminate food waste. The retired nurse and truck driver said he read U.S. consumers threw out approximately one-third of food purchases.
Cheryl Johnson, director of the Kansas Department of Education’s child nutrition and wellness division, said research established that inadequately nourished students didn’t learn as well as those who had their nutritional needs met. Federal food programs were extended to summer because so many children didn’t have access to healthy food choices during that part of the year, she said.
“We only provide information based on true science — not all the things you read on the internet,” Johnson said. “Nutritional health truly does impact your academic performance. If the child is hungry, they cannot hear the teacher over the rumblings of their tummy.”
She said Kansas schools served 96 million meals in the 2022 fiscal year and received federal reimbursement of $367 million for those activities.
Hershberger, a Hutchinson Republican who defeated incumbent Ben Jones in the Republican primary and faced no Democratic opposition in the November general election, said he was pleased Johnson was actively seeking to minimize food waste in schools.
State Board of Education member Jim McNiece, who had a 39-year career in public and private education as a teacher and principal, said food service programs contributed to students’ academic progress, improved behavior, made children feel more connected and reduced absenteeism due to illness.
He said school-provided meals for students were often more nutritious than food available in the home. He said it was a mistake when board members evaluated food programs only from a middle-class perspective.
“I cannot overstate how important this program is,” said McNiece, pointing to the risk of Board of Education members neglecting hunger among students. “They make decisions about what programs we do and don’t do based on their experiences. Not the experiences of the poor — not experiences of those who are basically left out.”
An ethical lapse?
Danny Zeck, a new state Board of Education member from Leavenworth, objected during his initial meeting to proposed renewal of a contract with the board’s attorney, Mark Ferguson of Overland Park. He’s served as legal counsel to the state Board of Education since 2009 through a series of one-year contracts.
Zeck criticized Ferguson for donating to a state Board of Education member’s campaign in 2022. Campaign finance reports show Ferguson gave $250 to Jones, who lost to Hershberger. In 2022, Ferguson donated $500 to Democratic attorney general candidate Chris Mann. He has donated thousands of dollars to Derek Schmidt, a Republican who served as attorney general and lost the November race for governor to Democrat Laura Kelly.
Zeck won in November by defeating Democrat Jeffrey Howards by a margin of 61% to 38%. In November, all five people elected to the 10-person state board were Republicans.
“Is it ethical for somebody that represents 10 board members to donate to someone’s campaign?” said Zeck, who suggested he would like to reopen the search process for a board attorney. “We don’t interview other people to see if we have the best one out there?”
