“I grew up as a free-meal student. I know what it’s like,” said Stacey Fager, USD 257 superintendent of schools, at Monday night’s school board meeting.
“Providing free meals for all of our students is worth a try. Give us a chance to make it work,” he asked board members.
In a unanimous vote, local school board members agreed to provide free school breakfasts and lunches to all students, regardless of income.
When Fager said he knows what it’s like, he’s referring to the social stigma of poverty. In the school cafeteria, that’s frequently made evident by those absent.
“Students will say their parents don’t want them to eat school lunches, but they also don’t have an alternative, such as a sack lunch with them,” said Staci Talkington, food service director for USD 257.
Because Talkington has a handle on which students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, she knows these students are being forced to go without.
“We still figure out a way to get them food,” she assured.
Almost half of the district’s 1,152 students qualify for free or reduced-priced meals. That’s about 550 students whose families meet income guidelines for determining eligibility for Child Nutrition Benefits.
That number does not include preschoolers who attend Munchkinland, which provides its own meals program.
Students enrolled in the district’s virtual learning program also can’t be figured into its meal program’s calculations.
To teachers, one indication of hunger is lackluster performance and learning outcomes.
Food insecurity impacts everything in a child’s life, from their physical to mental well-being. Many experience delayed learning.
The uncertainty of knowing when or if they’ll have enough to eat — let alone whether it’s nutritious — also impacts their social interaction with other students, possibly leading to depression and behavioral problems as well as increased absences due to illness.
As for participating in extracurricular activities such as sports or clubs, forget it. They simply don’t have the energy.
Kids are also smart.
