A school district in Waukesha, Wisconsin has decided to opt out of a federally funded program that provides all students with free lunch regardless of income status.
WISN 12 reports Waukesha is the only district in the entire state to do away with the federal free lunch program, which was implemented nationwide last year by the federal government in response to COVID-19.
“As we get back to whatever you want to believe normal means, we have decisions to make,” Joseph Como, president of the school board, said in a district meeting this week. “I would say this is part of normalization.”
According to the Washington Post, one board member said the free program made it easy for families to “become spoiled.” Meanwhile, Darren Clark, an assistant superintendent for business services, said the federally-funded program could lead to a “slow addiction” to the service.
“When you compare last summer’s number of meals served to the current summer’s level of participation, it is down 40%,” the school district explained to WISN 12. “This indicates a lowering in the demand for this program. When looking at the free breakfast program, especially at the high school level, each student was handed a meal as they walked in the door. This led to a significant amount of uneaten food and meal-related materials ending up in the trash.”
In replace of the program, the Waukesha school board voted in June to be part of the National School Lunch Program, which only offers free and reduced-price meals to eligible students whose families apply for federal aid. According to the Post, 36 percent of students qualified for free or reduced lunch in 2018-19.
Sherrie Tussler, executive director of Hunger Task Force, said the nixed program is essential for ensuring that all students have access to food during the school day.
“When children are in your company and it’s meal time, you feed them,” Tussler said. “You don’t sort them. This gives the district the opportunity to not sort children, to feed them all.”
