Advocates press for action on school meals

By Jim Sabataso
RUTLAND HERALD
MONTPELIER, Vt. — With pandemic-era provisions guaranteeing free meals for K-12 students set to expire in June, Vermont lawmakers are feeling new pressure from anti-hunger advocates to keep kids fed for free.

For the past two years, a federal waiver has provided free breakfast and lunch to all K-12 students nationwide, but come June most Vermont school districts will once again require families to pay for their meals unless lawmakers act.

Last spring, the Vermont Senate passed S.100 — which would provide free breakfast for all public school students, as well as create a task force to advise lawmakers by 2026 on how to also provide free lunch — sending it to the House for further consideration.

Recently, the House Education Committee has heard extensive testimony on the bill from anti-hunger advocates, school nutrition personnel, public health experts and students who have made the case for universal meals.

Anore Horton, executive director of Hunger Free Vermont, said she is encouraged by the attention the Education Committee is giving the bill. In particular, she is pleased members expressed interest in putting universal school lunch back into the bill, which previously had been removed by senators.

“We’ve really been arguing all along that universal breakfast by itself is really inadequate to meet the needs of students and families and schools, and it’s not going to have the kinds of really beneficial impacts that full universal school meals would have,” she said.

Horton said more than 60 Vermont school districts had universal meals programs in place prior to the pandemic. That translates to about 18 percent of Vermont students, according to the Joint Fiscal Office data. She noted, however, even those districts would benefit under S.100.

For example, Rutland City Public Schools provides universal meals to students in grades K-8 but not at the high school level.

“This meant that suddenly when you got to high school, you have to pay for meals,” she said. “And this was, of course, a problem for many.”

Horton added that schools in the rest of Rutland County have been unable to provide universal meals because, despite having a significant number of low-income students, they didn’t have a large enough percentage to make universal meals work for them financially.

Moreover, Horton said universal meals increase participation by eliminating stigma.

According to a 2019 survey conducted by the Urban Institute, 25 percent of eligible Vermont students were not eating free school lunch and more than 50 percent were not eating free breakfast.

“Universal school meals increases participation in school meals, by students at all income levels.” said Horton. “Students who qualify for free school meals don’t always eat the meals because of the stigma that’s associated with using the free school meal program.”

She added that a number of families that would benefit from the program are excluded because their household income is just above the eligibility threshold.

Indeed, the same 2019 survey reported that 42 percent Vermont of children living in food insecure homes were ineligible for free or reduced school meals.

“So we’re missing a lot of students who really need these meals,” said Horton.

Those students are increasingly making their voices heard.

This week, two first-year students from Essex High School testified before the House Education Committee urging them to pass S.100.

“For me, having school lunch free means stress-free mornings, not having to worry about packing food, confidence walking in the cafeteria and nutrition giving me energy to get through difficult classes,” said Emma Renaud.

Renaud said she’s not alone. She noted that having universal meals provided for the past two years has eliminated stigma, making schools a “safe and reliable place” where student nutritional needs are met.

“Watching fellow classmates in the lunchroom this year has been a completely different experience than past years,” she said. “The line for school meals are always full, sometimes even out the doors. Tables are full of nutritious food and everyone has a plate.”

Grace Symula, echoed Renaud, stating universal meals alleviates stress and anxiety.

“The idea that we may lose the ability to maintain an inclusive and equitable school nutrition environment is really concerning,” she said. “Every single student I have talked to is in agreement and support, so we are testifying.”

Last week, the committee also heard from a number of nutrition staff from school districts around the state, including Karyl Kent, director of school nutrition for Lamoille North School District.

“Universal School Meals allows us to focus on kids, not money,” she said. “Time that would have been spent chasing delinquent bills and trying to get payments from families that cannot pay will instead be used procuring local foods, integrating cultural diversity into our menus, creating efficiencies in our production and developing creative solutions to meeting the needs of our school communities.”

In 2021, the School Nutrition Association of Vermont, of which Kent is a member, conducted a survey of parents, teachers, administrators and school nutrition staff from across 40 Vermont school districts.

In it, 85 percent of parents reported that universal school meals benefited their children by increasing access to nutritious foods, providing convenience for busy families, offering economic support and creating a more equitable school culture.

It also found that 96 percent of school nutrition personnel agreed that universal meals increased meal participation and provided an opportunity to focus on quality meals as part of student education.

But as the Education Committee takes up S.100, cost will be a chief consideration.

According to an analysis conducted last year by the Joint Fiscal Office, universal meals would cost between around $24 and $40 million annually. Universal school breakfast alone was estimated to cost between $6 to $8 million a year.

The House Education Committee is currently awaiting a more precise analysis from the JFO.

Horton said Hunger Free Vermont has done its own analysis based on eight years of data from schools that provided universal meals prior to the pandemic, which puts the cost between $15 and $26 million annually for breakfast and lunch.

In the meantime, Committee Chair Kate Webb, D-Shelburne, indicated that one-time money could potentially be allocated to keep meals free while lawmakers hammer out the bill.

And with federal funding running out in the coming weeks, Horton said it’s imperative that the state act.

“Hungry kids can’t learn. They can’t focus. They can’t sit still,” she said. “So I think we’re going to see a lot of great benefits for the education side of things when we pass universal school meals.”

jim.sabataso @rutlandherald.com