Iola school board members agreed to try a program that gives free meals to students next year.
But it’s going to take the entire community to make it successful and keep the program going, Superintendent Stacey Fager cautioned.
The board agreed to participate in the Community Eligibility Provision, a program offered through the USDA and Kansas for schools in low-income areas to provide breakfast and lunch at no cost to students.
Staci Talkington, the district’s food service director, presented information about the program to school board members Monday night.
USD 257 will need to meet certain guidelines to take part in the program. That’s where the community’s help is vital, Fager said.
In order to qualify, the district will ask parents to fill out a survey about their household, similar to one conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic when the federal government provided free school meals.
The survey is necessary because the state uses the information to determine how many students are considered “at-risk” because of conditions such as low income or how many families receive food stamps. Districts receive funding from the state based on how many “at-risk” students attend.
The district will offer an incentive — by waiving technology fees — to encourage families to complete the surveys. Families will not need to complete an application for free and reduced-price meals.
Iola schools also will need to increase participation in the school meal program.
Talkington estimated the district needs about 22% more students to eat school meals in order to meet the minimum required by the Community Eligibility Provision. The high school and middle school have the lowest rate of participation, so there’s room for growth, she said.
The district could be on the hook for about $102,000 to subsidize the meals, but that number will go down if more students qualify for at-risk funding and take advantage of the free meals.
“We won’t know unless we try it,” Fager said. “Is there a chance we may have to subsidize this at the end of the year? If we increase participation, maybe we won’t.”
Again, Fager said, that’s going to require everyone working together.
“This is a shared responsibility,” Fager said. “If the district is going to do this, we need everyone on board to help our students.”
Administrators will need to remind parents that meals are free. Parents need to encourage students to eat at school.
