Students in America’s public schools should not go hungry or be stigmatized in cafeterias because their families can’t afford to feed them. But this is exactly what’s happening with the expiration of a federal program that provided free meals to every public-school student during the pandemic.
It’s happening in our own backyard. Local organizations are trying to fill the affordability gap.
As the school year unfolded, the Blaine County Education Foundation put out an SOS and raised money to offset the cost of meals for students whose families may not qualify for free or reduced-price meals, but still cannot afford them.
Income eligibility guidelines set by the federal government are the same for every school district and do not take into account the mismatch between wages and the high cost of housing and other necessities in areas like Blaine County. This leaves many students holding an empty lunch bag.
BCEF raised $80,000 to help students from struggling families afford school meals and is setting out to triple that number over three years to ensure that all students are fed. Other local nonprofits generously responded to its appeal.
Blaine County is not alone in the need for better funding for school meals that have increased in cost like everything else in the world. However, it is likely luckier than others who may not be able to consistently raise enough money to feed hungry students.
In early December, the Garden Valley School District appealed for help after its food director identified 25 kids that skipped lunch every day and found that their families didn’t qualify for reduced prices, but couldn’t afford to pay, according to a story aired by KTVB in Boise. That community raised $12,000 to fill the gap, which will last for an estimated two years.
Families can easily exceed the income cutoff for qualifying for free or reduced-price lunches by just a few dollars. During two years of the pandemic, all school lunches were free courtesy of the emergency federal program. That program ended last summer when federal lawmakers refused to extend it.
This threw the onus back on families. They must fill out applications, provide proof of income and submit the information to school district officials who review it to ensure that students qualify.
During the pandemic, federal payments for school meal programs rose to $28.7 billion from a pre-pandemic total of $18.7 billion, according to reporting by The New York Times. For some lawmakers, the cost of feeding kids was too high.
Idaho is a food-producing and processing state. Its farms and ranches produce milk, yogurt, cheese, beef, lamb, potatoes, wheat, barley, oats, corn, beans, peas and various other vegetables.
Idaho’s has a significant ag economy. The U.S. is a food-exporting nation and the richest nation in the world. School meals should be free for everyone.
Students with empty tummies can’t concentrate or muster the energy to study. Good education starts with good nutrition. For some mysterious reason, schoolbooks are free, but students must pay for lunch. Where’s the sense in that?
Letting students go hungry should leave every state, the nation, lawmakers and business leaders shamefully red-faced.
Schools in the richest nation in the world and in the county with the highest incomes in Idaho, should not have to beg for food.
“Our View” represents the opinion of the newspaper editorial board, which is made up of members of its board of directors. Remarks may be directed to editorialboard@mtexpress.com.
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One hundred and eighty schools days was specific, however the “conceptualizarion of the system is suboptimal” is nebulous at best. . I agree there could be some positive changes in the school day length and calendar days. Should the lower elementary grades have the same length day as the HS?
“What about the school hours that make it hard for parents to work?” As far as public school, are you referring to grades higher than elementary school? One thing that Covid made evident was how much parents rely on school as child care. What a bonus to get child care AND an education for the price of one! There is a US wide problem of affordable and available child care for all families pre school age plus and for after school activities - another good program is the Rec Center after school program in Atkinson’s Park. I was a coach for several sessions of Girls on the Run - another wonderful program.
In addition to the the state curriculums BCSD teachers and parents are involved in developing the different subject area curriculums K-12 for our district. As far as doing what the state requires, don’t forget that educational testing and publishing companies make a lot of money from public schools schools.
Right now BCSD is still advertising jobs for a bilingual paraprofessional, special education paraprofessional, a custodian for an elementary school, guest/substitute positions, regular route bus driver, bus monitor position, coaching positions. Expanding the IHDF program would require even more people than that organizations has now. I agree that it is a wonderful program and very helpful for the kids involved in the program and others who might participate.
If I understand how it is working this year that while they do work with some other students that right now there are a total of 40 second graders graders selected from Bellevue, Hailey, and Alturas Elementary Schools in their regular program that they will be working with as those students move towards high school graduation and beyond.
I’m not positive about class numbers, but I would guess most of the 2nd grade classrooms in the district have close to 20 +\-students each and there are 13? second grade classrooms in the district. Scaling the program to involve all students who could benefit is not only about money, it is also about the adults or maybe HS student mentors needed to be involved consistently with each grade or school of students.
Maybe you could spend some time talking with some district teachers or better yet reach out to volunteer on a regular basis with a classroom or grade level. Get your name on the guest/substitute teacher list if you want up close and in person. By virtue of having gone through school anyone can work with a class of students and achieve the objectives, right?
As far as the Jamie Vollmer book, the not doing it alone it involves much more than non profits and monetary donations. It is a good book to read and not dismiss because you already know it all - Mr. Volmer also thought he knew it all too which was why he wrote the book. To make a change you also need to bring on board support from the whole community.
Wow. Thank you for the thoughtful response. I certainly do NOT think I know it all. I think I as pretty specific on the ideal of a customized plan for every kid. But I recognize we are challenges to hire enough teachers. I’m all for raising teacher pay and building teacher housing. Few people contribute as much to society. I am on the advisory board of IHDF and have sat in on classes. I had no idea anyone could just volunteer for the classrooms. That’s a great suggestion. What changes would you like to see? Thanks.
Maybe it's time for Blaine County to re-think its entire approach to education. What would we design if we had a blank sheet of paper and could access all the current public and philanthropic funds that are spent today? Would we build a system that looks like this one? Probably not. Is it possible to "re-charter" the entire school district and free it from some of the things that make it inefficient an unfocused on the kids for whom it is supposed to exist?
Perry, please elaborate on the specific examples in the BCSD in regards to what
you know are “some of the things that make it inefficient an{sic} unfocused on the kids “
I would also suggest reading “Schools Cannot Do It Alone” by Jamie Vollmer
First of all, I agree that schools can’t do it alone. And they don’t in Blaine County. from IHDF to BCEF to the Y ans BCRD and the Hunger Coalition we have a lot of pieces to our puzzle. That being said, the conceptualizarion of the system is suboptimal. Take the school year. Would we just provide only 180 days of part day education if we could do more? What about the school hours that make it hard for parents to work? Would we decide that the teacher/class model use is right for all kids? Would we pay teachers the way we pay them? Would we follow the curriculum he state mandates? Would we make it this hard for kids who need free meals? Or who can’t afford thinkg like backpacks or sports equipment? Take IHDF. For essentially a 25% premium over what we currently spend on education, we take graduation rates up from 65% to 100% ans post graduation outcomes up (college, trades, etc) up dramatically. Why can’t e do that for every kid? Would e replicate the overhead of all the nonprofits that serve school kids or could we follow more of an integrated case management system that addresses the full range of their needs?
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