Latest news with #CommunityEligibilityProvision
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Schools, local organizations to provide meals during summer
May 30—Morgan County Schools, which is having a food give-away Saturday, is one of several entities providing food assistance to people in the county during the summer when students are home. Beginning at 9 a.m. at Brewer High School, 59 Eva Road in Somerville, and continuing until the food is gone, volunteers will distribute a truck full of food in Wipe Out Hunger Day. No registration is required. "We plan to feed over 300 families, and we will have over 100 volunteers there to help," said Superintendent Tracie Turrentine. "It is one of my favorite days for my own kids and I to serve others." Morgan County Schools also provides free breakfast to students enrolled in its June summer school program. While 59% of Morgan County Schools students — about 4,500 of them — receive free and reduced lunches during the school year, fewer than 500 receive meals through the school during the summer. From Monday to June 26, Decatur City Schools will offer free breakfast and lunch to any Morgan County child 18 years old or younger at 12 of its schools: Austin High, Austin Middle, Career Academies of Decatur, Eastwood Elementary, Austinville Elementary, Banks-Caddell Elementary, Woodmeade Elementary, Oak Park Elementary, Frances Nungester Elementary, Julian Harris Elementary, Benjamin Davis Elementary, and Chesnut Grove Elementary. Jenny Newton, DCS child nutrition program supervisor, said the children don't need to be enrolled in DCS to receive a meal. A parent or other family member can't pick up a meal for a child, though; the child must be present on the school grounds to receive the food. DCS will be going into its second year as a Community Eligibility Provision location — a program that helps schools in low-income areas to provide breakfast and lunch to all students free of charge. "Nutrition is very important to students in the learning process," Newton said. "It is very hard to pay attention when you're hungry, ... so I feel like that's one of the most important things we can do for a student is make sure that they are well fed when they go in the classroom, so they can put their full focus on learning." Newton said 75% of DCS families qualify for free or reduced cost lunches. Newton said most of those fed at the DCS locations during the summer are students who participate in summer school or are already on a campus. About 30 million students nationwide are enrolled in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's school breakfast and lunch program, but only one in six of these children receive meals through participating locations during the summer, according to the USDA. In a year-round mission, Decatur Neighborhood Christian Center will continue to provide food and clothing on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9 to 11 a.m. "With the kids home for the summer, there will be more mouths to feed for families because of them not being in school and getting the school lunches," said Pamela Bolding, executive director of NCC, "so we'll see more people this summer who need food." Ashley Boyd, executive director of the Committee on Church Cooperation, said the number of people using their food pantry services keeps increasing. "Volunteers are always welcome and always needed. ... I know everyone is so tired of hearing about the economy, but there are more people utilizing us than ever before," Boyd said. "It continues to rise." CCC estimates there were more than 12,000 pantry visits this past year. CCC takes the specific needs of the families it serves into consideration. "We do try to tailor our food pantry especially for parents with school-aged children who may be struggling with affording child care, making sure they have the foods they need and foods that the kids themselves can prepare if need be," Boyd said. Many other families rely on summer camps and youth programming as a source of meals. This year, Decatur Youth Services will partner with DCS to provide the children participating in Camp Safe Haven with warm meals for breakfast and lunch. In previous years, the meals were not warm. "We're a low-income camp, so being able to have somewhere that provides breakfast and lunch that's hot and not cold for the kids is a blessing," said Johnny Jones, the DYS summer program coordinator. "A lot of those kids don't really get those meals very often." The camp, which begins Tuesday, will serve about 115 students this summer. Jones said providing these meals lets campers know someone cares about them. "That's something we're very happy to be a part of and happy to feed those kids any way we can," Newton said. The USDA automatically enrolls families who receive help from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or other income-based meal benefits in a program called SUN Bucks. During the summer, these families can receive $120 per eligible student to use toward grocery expenses. People can also visit to locate food banks near them and seek help applying for SNAP benefits. Morgan County has 15 food banks listed on the Feeding Alabama website. — or 256-340-2437
Chicago Tribune
26-05-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
West Aurora School District renews food service contract with OrganicLife
The West Aurora School District 129 board recently voted unanimously to renew the district's food service contract with Chicago-based OrganicLife for the 2025-26 school year. OrganicLife has been the district's food service provider for the past six years. The new contract with OrganicLife has an increase in cost of 3.6% based on the Consumer Price Index, West Aurora School District Associate Superintendent Angie Smith said. West Aurora students do receive free breakfast and lunch. However, they do pay for a la cart items in the cafeteria. Those prices are not going up, Smith said. 'All students in our district receive a free breakfast and lunch daily as we are covered by the Community Eligibility Provision of the National School Lunch Program. Students only pay for a la carte items or second meals and we are not increasing those prices,' Smith said. The district overall is pleased with its food service provider, she said. 'OrganicLife is an amazing partner who continues to look for ways to better support our students. As an example, this year we met with student groups and got some feedback on increasing awareness and availability of plant-based options. At the elementary level, we have tested offering hot breakfast items as part of our menu and will roll that out to all buildings next year,' Smith said. 'We welcome feedback and OrganicLife has always been responsive and provided options and solutions for our students,' she said.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Opinion: The True Impact of School Meal Funding Cuts: More Hunger, Less Learning
One in five children in the U.S. faces hunger, according to a Feeding America report. And now, Congress is deliberating making hunger worse. A sweeping plan to slash federal spending would gut vital programs — including cuts to those feeding low-income kids at school and at home. While Congress has yet to propose direct cuts to a critical federal school nutrition program, its budget proposal includes a $12 billion reduction in funding for the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). Since 2010, CEP has enabled local school districts to partner with the federal government to serve free breakfast and lunch to all students at lower-income schools without collecting individual applications. This program addresses critical gaps in the system to nourish children. Additionally, the House is advancing $290 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the largest proposed cuts to SNAP in history, worsening food insecurity for millions of families. Many children qualify for free school meals automatically if their families receive SNAP. If Congress defunds SNAP and children lose access to these programs, they will also lose their direct and easy access to free or reduced-price school meals. When support for both school meals and food at home is weakened, the safety net begins to fall apart. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter These proposed draconian cuts seek to balance the federal budget on the backs of children and low- and middle-income families, while undermining food systems that support educational readiness and a thriving economy. Related As the executive director of The Urban School Food Alliance, which represents 18 of the largest school districts in the country, I am concerned, like millions of others, about this funding being eliminated. In my day-to-day work, I hear from families about how school meals have changed the trajectory of their children's lives. At a recent haircut appointment, I comforted my hairdresser when she came to tears asking me if school meals would be cut or cost more. She and her husband are still trying to recover from their losses due to service industry closures related to COVID. They both work multiple jobs and after having to sell one car, the free school meals program is what enabled them to keep paying the rent for their apartment. For her family and millions more, decisions from Congress to withdraw its commitment to combating childhood hunger would jeopardize children's health, stability, and, ultimately, academic success. Hunger has pernicious effects on a child's trajectory in school and life. Undernourished children struggle to focus in school, leading to lower academic performance, higher absenteeism, and increased emotional and behavioral problems. Children are less likely to reach their full potential as adult members of society without consistent access to the nutrition that healthy school meals provide. Our national school meal programs cost about $23 billion annually — less than half a percent of the total federal budget — but provide nearly $40 billion in human health and economic benefits. As the national conversation around healthy eating moves front and center, the value of school meals should be celebrated. In another economic blow, the Trump administration's decision to cancel $1 billion in USDA programs supporting local food purchases further underscores the compounded danger of these cuts. These programs don't just provide meals — they sustain American farmers, ranchers, and local food economies, ensuring a flow of healthy food to schools and food banks. Cutting this funding would intensify food insecurity and hinder our agricultural economy at a time when both are more critical than ever. These are not feel-good talking points; these are issues of national security. A healthy, well-educated population produces a strong, productive nation. And a resilient, local food system ensures a robust, plentiful supply chain that readies itself for natural disasters and other times of crisis. Because of the universal free meals provided through the CEP program, 44% of California's food-insecure families who previously didn't qualify for federal assistance now have access to reliable, daily nutrition. In addition to reducing the stigma of free meals, the program minimizes administrative burdens and helps families, who often hold multiple jobs yet struggle with food insecurity. Another benefit is that the program reduces error rates and ensures the neediest students receive the benefits. This essential and enriching student program is now at risk. A new analysis found that the proposed changes to SNAP and CEP could mean an estimated 832,000 children would need to start filing school meal applications, based on a sample of 37 states and the District of Columbia. The analysis also found that at least 18 million students nationwide could face higher costs for school meals. Related Any proposed disinvestments in CEP and SNAP move us in the direction toward scarcity, worsening outcomes and harm to working families. The ripple effects of repealing these vital programs will damage communities and undermine our children's health for years and generations to come. Budgets are a statement of our values. Families rely on their Congressional representatives to protect, advocate, and represent their interests, including a commitment to fiscal responsibility. Still, there is no 'budget reconciliation' if it is negotiated at the expense of our children and families. While fiscal responsibility matters, we cannot afford to undercut investments in programs that directly support our children, economy and workforce. Instead of slashing investments that nourish hungry children at school and support our American farmers, federal leadership should continue to invest in programs like CEP and SNAP that have years of well-documented success in solving some of our country's most complex issues. This is the time for parents, educators, and communities to speak up against these highly damaging budget proposals. Over the past decade, we have made significant strides in bringing locally sourced and freshly prepared meals to our schools, improving children's overall health and well-being. We must stand with parents, school nutrition directors, educators, and farmers fighting to protect these essential programs. The choice is clear: We can either defund our children's futures, subject millions to hunger and exacerbate the economic hardship of millions of families. Or we can invest in all Americans by championing their health, education, and potential — starting with the unwavering commitment to nutritious school food that every child needs to grow, learn, and thrive. Regardless of political ideology, we can all agree that no child should go hungry or be deprived of the opportunity to succeed.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ohio's school meal participation rose over the last year, reducing food insecurity, study shows
Schoolchildren eat lunch. (File photo by Spenser Heaps/Utah News Dispatch) A recent study showed increases in free and reduced-price meals for students, including in Ohio, as some lawmakers attempt to get more of the meals paid for by the state. The Food Research & Action Center's study on the reach of school breakfast and lunch programs during the 2023-2024 school year showed participation in free and reduced-price school breakfast and lunch went up 9% in Ohio compared to the year before. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Participation went up nationwide as well, with nearly 12.2 million children participating in free or reduced-price school breakfasts and about 21.1 million children participating in school lunch programs. 'Ensuring that students are well-fed is part of safeguarding the health and well-being of our country's children and supporting working families in every state,' the study stated. Schools can provide free and reduced-price meals as part of the federal National School Lunch program and the School Breakfast program, programs that distribute aid based on household income. Children in households with annual incomes at or below 130% of the federal poverty line are eligible for free meals, and students in households living between 130% and 185% of the federal poverty line can receive reduced-price meals. Students outside of those poverty levels pay prices set by individual school districts. Ohio lawmakers passed a state budget in 2023 that included free meals for any student qualifying up to the reduced-price eligibility level, but it's unclear whether that will continue under the new budget, still being decided by the General Assembly. The Ohio House's version of the budget kept the governor's proposal to maintain the standard, keeping students eligible for reduced-price lunch from paying anything. But the House version did not include a proposal from the governor that required each school district that has at least 25% of students participating in meal programs to join onto the Community Eligibility Provision that would make breakfast and lunch free for every student. Anti-hunger advocates across the country fear that provision might be on the chopping block as the budget reconciliation process continues at the U.S. Capitol, which would impact 280,000 students in Ohio alone, according to advocates. More than 280,000 Ohio kids would be impacted by proposed national school meal program cuts The Ohio Senate is deep in discussions on the state budget currently, and two senators are hoping to include universal meal eligibility as part of the Senate draft, something that has received public support from Ohioans in the past. Ohio Senate Bill 109, which Republican co-sponsor Sen. Bill Blessing, of Colerain Township, hopes to see included in the two-year budget, would appropriate $300 million for reimbursements of public and chartered nonpublic schools to support school meal programs for all students. Whatever comes of the Senate draft will have to be reconciled with the House draft as the two chambers come together to create a final draft to send to the governor by the end of June. Overall in the U.S., free and reduced-price lunch went to 1.3 million more children compared to the 2022-2023 school year, according to the research center's study. It attributed reductions in food insecurity and 'numerous academic, health and behavioral benefits' to access to breakfast and lunch during the school day. 'The increase in participation – following a drop during the 2022-2023 school year as the pandemic-era nationwide child nutrition waivers expired – is a strong indication that school nutrition departments are stabilizing after years of facing staffing challenges and supply shortages triggered by the COVID-19 public health crisis,' researchers stated. The center also noted the rebound shows nutrition departments in schools 'were better positioned to implement many of the best practices that increase participation in school meals.' But the biggest driver of increase, the study found, was the 'growth in the number of schools offering meals to all students through the Community Eligibility Provision and state Healthy School Meals for All policies.' 'Offering meals at no charge to all students reduces the administrative burden on school nutrition departments, eliminates school meal debt, reduces stigma and streamlines the implementation of breakfast in the classroom and other innovative service models,' according to the study. The center sees the increase in participation as 'positive momentum,' but also said more participation could be happening. 'Participation in both school breakfast and school lunch by students from households with low incomes is lower than it was during the last full school year before the pandemic, which means that even though participation has increased from the prior school year, these programs have not regained all the ground lost during the last five years,' the study stated. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Knox County Schools budget news: Teacher salaries and meal prices are going up
Knox County Board of Education unanimously approved its $700.5 million budget for the next fiscal year, which includes money earmarked for increases to teacher salaries and benefits. The budget has an increase of 3.1% over the current budget, with $19.7 million for teacher salary and benefit increases. The pay hikes are on top of last year's investment to bring teacher salaries in line with neighboring districts. The district's next steps for teacher salaries will be to stay current with market rates by doing annual increases on a schedule, including all eligible employees this year. Another adjustment will be made in the next budget cycle to meet the requirements of the Tennessee Teacher Paycheck Protection Act, which raised the minimum teacher salary to $50,000 for the 2026-2027 school year. KCS will reassess its overall salary rates in 2028, and will continue to do so every three to five years. "This was a pretty tight budget this year," Superintendent Jon Rysewyk said. "We do want to try to do what we can in that, but it really wasn't an oversight. It was really just us having to make some decisions to be able to keep operations the way they are." The board unanimously approved a capital improvements budget of $24.4 million and nutrition budget of $33.76 million. Next, the budgets must be approved by the Knox County Commission. During the public comment period, JLL Transport LLC owner John Llewellyn discussed pay increases for bus drivers amid rising costs. The board will reassess costs in the summer and present the information in the fall to see where the district has saved money to reallocate toward driver pay increases. The board would need to approve it then. KCS will delegate $24.4 million to capital improvements, most of which will cover air conditioning and ventilation for schools, a new gymnasium for Gresham Middle School, facility upgrades, roofing and pavement repairs. Out of the allotment, $1.8 million will be used for the first phase of planning for a new K-8 school for the Mechanicsville, Lonsdale and Beaumont area. The board already approved a $66 million for the new school to serve upwards of 1,600 students by 2028. The district wants to meet the projected increase of approximately 400 school-age kids by 2030 as part of the city of Knoxville's projections for the Transforming Western housing development. The district is in the early stages for a "South Knoxville solution," too, based on projected growth in that part of the county. The district is asking for $51.9 million to develop this plan beginning in fiscal year 2029. The district's budget for the School Nutrition Fund is estimated at $33.76 million. It will increase meal prices due to its increasing costs for labor and food. The price increase will support the 63 KCS schools that are part of Community Eligibility Provision, which provides free breakfasts and lunches for eligible schools. The increase will go in effect at other schools. Old versus new meal prices: Breakfast: $2 current, $2.25 new Elementary lunch: $2.75 current, $3.25 new Middle/high lunch: $3 current, $3.50 new Adult breakfast: $2.25-$2.50 current, $3 new Adult lunch: $3.50-$4 current, $5 new Parents may apply for free meals at Keenan Thomas reports for the Knox News business growth and development team. You can reach him by email at Support strong local journalism and unlock premium perks at This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: KCS budget news: Teacher salaries and meal prices are going up
