There’s no such thing as a free meal, USD 257 board members are learning.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the USDA and Kansas Department of Education have provided free meals for students through much of the year and will continue to do so next year. Essentially, the government reimburses schools for the cost of meals, so families do not have to pay.
While that’s good news, the downside is that school officials are having a hard time getting families to provide them proof of income, necessary to receive free or reduced-priced meals.
That statistic is a vital indicator of poverty in a community and is used to determine at-risk funding for the school district. Organizations also use that number to qualify for grants.
Even in a normal year, it’s difficult to convince families to fill out the application, said Judy Baker, food services coordinator. Families typically are reluctant to provide personal information even though it may save them money, she said.
“Because (meals) were free this year, we lost a lot of applications,” Baker said. “I continued to send letters and some people returned them. And when they found out they could be reimbursed for driver’s ed, a few more sent them in.”
“This has a huge impact on our district’s finances,” board member Tony Leavitt said.
There are other ways to collect that sort of data, but it could prove to be a challenge.
The district can include a household economic survey at enrollment, and can even require families to complete the survey. Baker said the survey would actually be easier for the district than the previous method.
But board members immediately objected to that idea during a discussion at Monday night’s meeting.
“We live in a small town,” board member Jennifer Coltrane said. “I have a problem asking families to reveal finances.”
Baker assured her the information would be confidential.
Board member Nancy Toland said she also thought parents would strongly oppose being asked to share that information.
That prompted a discussion on alternatives.
Superintendent Stacey Fager said some districts offer a discount on enrollment fees to encourage families to fill out the paperwork.
