District says it must close gap with federal reimbursement
By Jennifer Eisenbart
Staff Writer
As expected, the Burlington Area School District had just one planned change in its school fees for the 2013-14 school year – and it passed unanimously through the BASD School Board Monday night.
The change is a 10-cent hike in school lunch costs, and is being done to close the gap between the federal funding for the school lunch program and the actual cost of the BASD lunch.
According Superintendent Peter Smet, the federal government reimburses lunches at the rate of $2.86 per student. Even with the BASD price hike to $2.45, there is still a wide gap.
“What (the federal government is) saying is all districts in the country need to close that gap,” Smet explained. Right now, the free lunch is helping support the paid lunch, not the other way around.
The surplus goes into a fund that BASD must use for food service or cafeteria improvements.
While the proposal passed unanimously in both the Finance Committee and the School Board meeting, the quality of the meals being served was called into question.
School Board member Roger Koldeway said teachers aren’t using the program.
“I think we should look at improving the food,” Koldeway said.
Smet said he didn’t have a problem looking into it, but eats in at least one district school cafeteria each week.
“I disagree with you,” Smet said of Koldeway’s assessment of the food. “I think the quality for the price is pretty reasonable.”
School Board member Phil Ketterhagen also added, “the food is a little less than desirable for me.”
After fellow board member Larry Anderson commented that the palatability may have more to do with national nutritional requirements than the food, Board President David Thompson called for the vote.
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Seems to me..
Why is the Federal Gov’t $ being Used to Fund Individual Schools Lunches? Isn’t each State and School District responsible to pay for their Own Kids Lunches?
Asfor paying for Poverty Kids Lunches? That’s Fine,but why not a I.O.U. to their Parents ? Give them a Hand UP,Not a Hand out..And give them some Dignity as well.
Same should go for Food Stamps..and Energy Assistance.
And you can’t tell me a 1st yr Nutritionist Can’t Make up a 5 day Lunch Program for them? It my day, you didn’t like it? Don’t eat it and Go Hungry…
Remember?
RB, our federal government is involved because the subsidized lunch program under the Department of agriculture. The amount of local or state control is limited. Which is why the plan to require work or training for food stamp recipients included in Governor Walker’s budget is such a bad idea and actually reflection of his ill-will to the poor. You can read about it here: http://burlingtonareaprogressives.blogspot.com/2013/05/republicons-hungry-to-further-their.html
I don’t believe that issuing IOU’s to poor parents for their children’s lunches is a hand up at all, but more like a boot on their throats. Saddling poor people with more debt would be neither productive or dignifying. We shouldn’t punish poor people for being poor people.
We have a real hunger problem in this country caused by poverty, not lack of enough food. Please come to our movie event – A Place At The Table tomorrow night and learn more about it. You can read more about it here: http://burlingtonareaprogressives.blogspot.com/2013/05/wisconsin-food-deserts-place-at-table.html