By David Delcore
Staff Writer
MONTPELIER — No Vermont students will need to remember lunch money when they return to school next week and the federal government is throwing in free breakfasts as well.
It’s not just Vermont, and it’s not only for students who return to in-person instruction because this week the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it is extending a flexible free school meals program that was scheduled to end even as schools are reopening.
In Barre, Business Manager Lisa Perreault shared that news with members of her district’s finance committee on Tuesday, and on Wednesday night, members of the Montpelier Roxbury and Washington Central school boards received similar free food for all briefings from their respective superintendents.
Generally greeted as good news, the timing is less than optimal from a planning perspective and there are caveats and questions.
With schools set to reopen Tuesday, Washington Central Superintendent Bryan Olkowski said administrators in his five-town, six-school district are suddenly scrambling to prepare for the logistical issues associated with eliminating income eligibility as a prerequisite to obtaining federally subsidized meals.
“This is a big shift to be learning about three days before school opens,” Olkowski told board members during their virtual meeting Wednesday night.
It was more observation than complaint because Olkowski acknowledged the value of extending the summer-long accommodation at a time of economic uncertainty associated with the COVID-19 crisis.
“It’s a great opportunity,” he said.
How long it will last is anyone’s guess.
That will likely depend on the appetite for free food among students across the country.
Theoretically, the extension announced this week by the USDA could run through the end of the year. However, Perreault, Olkowski and Montpelier Roxbury Superintendent Libby Bonesteel told members of their boards that isn’t a guarantee because money for the program could run out before then.
The USDA’s announcement created a fresh wrinkle for administrators across the state to iron out as they ramp up to reopen in a way they never have before.
With most districts providing a mix of in-person and online learning, that will likely require many to re-think the delivery models that were used to get food to students when the pandemic forced all schools to shift to remote instruction in March.
At the time, buses in districts such as Barre and Washington Central were used to transport food to students who were learning from home. Those buses will now be busy transporting students to and from school and Olkowski predicted the model that will be used in Washington Central will probably resemble the one used in Montpelier Roxbury between March and June.
Olkowski said meals will be available at elementary schools in Berlin, Calais, East Montpelier, Middlesex and Worcester, as well as U-32 Middle and High School, but it will be up to parents of students learning remotely to pick them up. At last count that includes 88 of the district’s pre-K-8 students, as well as all high school students at least some of the time.
The availability of universal free meals will almost certainly mean school cafeterias will be cranking out more food than they historically have. However, how much more is unclear.
“I think the numbers are going to go up,” Olkowski said. “I just don’t know by how much.”
That could pose an ordering challenge for food service providers and, in some cases, may necessitate hiring additional staff.
It’s why Olkowski said his district will be reaching out to families in coming days letting them know how and when to order meals in an effort to ensure those orders can be filled.
“We’re chasing another moving target,” Olkowski said, predicting the actual effect of the extension won’t be quantified until after schools reopen and students settle into their new routines.
Meanwhile, Olkowski said several superintendents — himself included — are concerned offering federally subsidized meals to all could discourage families who are eligible for free and reduced meals from filling out the applications. That, he said, has the potential to affect Title 1 funding districts receive, as well as their ability to secure other federal grants.
Olkowski said he was eager to get clarity from the state on that issue. Even in normal years, he said, many families opt not to fill out the applications and the this year – at least to start – there isn’t really a need to because everyone who wants to will be eating for free.
In the two-town, three-school Barre Unified School District, board members who serve on the finance committee welcomed word of the just-approved extension.
It’s one Perreault said would entitle students at Barre Town Middle and Elementary School and Spaulding High School to the same two free meals a day that students at Barre City Elementary and Middle School have been receiving since that school obtained a federal waiver based on its poverty level in 2014.
Late last year, the local board flirted with including $750,000 in funding in this year’s budget to create a district-wide universal free meal program. However, that proposal was quickly taken off the table to reduce the unprecedented that accompanied approval of the budget in March.
Bonesteel told members of the Montpelier Roxbury board Wednesday night she planned to share the “good news” with parents in her weekly update on Thursday. Each of the district’s three schools – three in Montpelier and one in Roxbury – are developing ordering systems, she said.
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