The Juneau School District Board of Education greenlit bringing back the district’s universal free breakfast program this week.
The school board unanimously approved reinstating the program a little over a month after the Alaska Legislature restored state education funding previously vetoed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy. The district received more than $1.5 million in additional funding. It’s putting $230,000 of that toward universal free breakfast this school year.
The district is hoping to keep program costs down by encouraging families to apply for free and reduced lunch. That’s a federal program that reimburses schools for providing free meals to qualifying students. Juneau School District Chief Financial Officer Nicole Herbert said there’s still an incentive to apply, even if universal free breakfast is restored.
“We’re not providing universal free lunch, so that’s a direct incentive to the families to fill it out so their students can still have a free or reduced lunch,” she said.
Herbert said getting more students in the program helps the district get more federal funding, such as Title I grants and internet reimbursements. She says students who qualify can also get discounts and fee waivers for tests like the SAT.
Other district staff and parents brought up concerns about challenges in accessing the application and school meals in general.
Heather Miller is the meal coordinator at Mendenhall River Community School. She said a delay in working with families on applications could be due to turnover in office staff at the schools.
She says fewer students this year ate school breakfast without the free program.
“I have kids that are obviously dipping into piggy banks, their own money,” she said. “I have kids who are like, ‘I’m hungry, Miss Heather, but I know I can’t — my parents can’t afford the breakfast. I have to choose whether or not I eat lunch or breakfast.’”
Miller hopes to see changes to make it easier for families to apply for free and reduced school meals.
The district plans to reinstate the program Monday.
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