# data[].attributes.body
Not having enough or anything to eat can lead to poor performance in all activities, including school. Fritize Rodriguez (2014) writes that "A decline in children’s nutritional status signals an eventual decline in their academic performance" (p.1). No one should have to go hungry, especially school aged children. Choosing the free school lunch program for this presentation was the best way to get the important information out to those that truly need the help. As a future school counselor, my job is to meet the needs of all students and that includes making sure they are safe, happy, and healthy. Part of honoring this committment to students is making sure they have enough to eat in order to perform at the best of their abilities.
Rodriguez, F. (2014). Learning on an empty stomch. Rappler.com.

# data[].attributes.body
Students at every age are expected to perform at their highest ability on a daily basis. In order for this to happen, they must have the proper nutrition and be healthy; two things that go hand in hand. If the studnets are hungry their performance suffers. Their suffering performance can lead to an entire string of consrquences from bad grades, to a decrease in self confidence, to even physical or mental abuse at home. Making sure that students have the best overall learning environment from the inside out is an essential part of a school counselor's job description.
Because of the unprecedented actions of our government in their response to COVID 19, our students now face even more tragic circumstances. Trying to figure out how to complete work, how to learn the required information successfully without a face to face teacher, and now figure out how to put food in their stomachs when the only meal they receiced was from school on a daily basis. Our school district developed a plan to feed the students remotely, but there is still the problem of how the children can get to the drop off points. We must plan a more in depth and all encompassing solution for when this situation happens again; we cannot be caught off guard again.

# data[].attributes.body
This link below is to the National School Lunch Program. It provides information about qualifing for the free and reduced school lunch program. It also offers nutrional information and many articles about choosing what will best help your student learn to the best of their ability. There are contacts and information on who to contact when there is a problem or lunch shaming is happening. A very good resource for all things school lunch.
National school lunch program. (2020). Texas Department of Agriculture. squaremeals.org.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Assistance available in English and Spanish. Please call 877-TEX-MEAL (877-839-6325) for help.

In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA.

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g. Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.), should contact the Agency (State or local) where they applied for benefits. Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities may contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.

To file a program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, (AD-3027) found online at: http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html, and at any USDA office, or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by:

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

Texas Department of Agriculture
Commissioner Sid Miller

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Assistance available in English and Spanish. Please call 877-TEX-MEAL (877-839-6325) for help. In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA.

# data[].attributes.body
* Schools trying to find ways to help students eat without luinch shaming
* Pushing for financing that would allow all students that attend school to have free lunch and breakfast.
* Oregon has already passed several laws that help provide food for their students.
- more funding for those schools that have a lower percentage of qualifing students
- proposal to increase the elgibility requirement from $47,000 to $77,00
* More flexibility is a must to meet all the students nutrional needs

Jacobson, L. (2020). More states expanding students access to free school meals. EducationDive.com.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A Vermont bill that would make school meals free for all students is just one example of how anti-hunger advocates are pushing in the direction of universal school meals.

Concerns over lunch shaming, unpaid meal debt and proposals from the Trump administration to tighten eligibility for nutrition programs are being met with efforts to cover meal costs for more children who don't already qualify for free meals.

Vermont has a "visionary approach," said Crystal FitzSimons, the director of school and out-of-school time programs for the Food Research and Action Center, an advocacy organization. But she added, "There are a lot of conversations about how we can maximize access."

Meanwhile, she adds, the Community Eligibility Program, in which schools with high percentages of students qualifying for free meals extend that program to all students, has "shed the light" on the benefits of not having to determine at the school level which students can or cannot receive a hot meal.

'Part of the conversation'

In Oregon, last year, legislation passed that provides $40 million to expand free meals to students in two ways. First, it provides funds for schools that can't afford to take advantage of CEP because they have a lower percentage of students eligible for reimbursable meals. Second, it increases eligibility for a free or reduced-price meal from 185% of the federal poverty line - about $47,600 for a family of four - to 300%, or $77,250.

The fund was part of the state's Student Success Act legislative package, which is expected to add $1 billion to the state's education budget each year. Because it's tied to a new tax, the updated rules will go into effect this fall.

"We wanted to make sure nutrition was part of that conversation," says Matt Newell-Ching, public affairs director with Partners for Hunger-Free Oregon, an advocacy organization.

When the legislature convened a Joint Committee on Student Success in 2018, Newell-Ching said, lawmakers expected to hear recommendations related to instruction and curriculum. But they also heard concerns related to housing and food insecurity, he said.

"Kids coming to school frankly were born during the peak of the recession," he said, adding there were increased reports from teachers about problems managing classrooms and students experiencing trauma. "That shifted the thinking."

Oregon is also one of eight states that has eliminated the reduced-price category for families whose incomes fall between 130% and 185% of poverty. And last week, the School Nutrition Association, which represents those managing school meal programs, released its 2020 position paper asking Congress to eliminate the category nationally. A few other states have eliminated that category just for breakfast or just for lunch in some grades.

At the federal level, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent, and Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, in October introduced the Universal School Meals Act, which would prohibit schools participating in the National School Lunch Program from denying a school breakfast or lunch to any student.

Diane Pratt-Heavner, spokeswoman for the School Nutrition Association, said the organization doesn't take positions on specific state bills but "has long supported universal meals."

More flexibility proposed

Efforts to provide more students free meals are also taking place in the midst of a debate over the nutritional standards applying to those meals. On Friday, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue ate lunch with 2nd graders at a Texas elementary school and then released his latest proposal for giving states and districts more control over the meals they serve.

Enjoyed a delicious lunch with second graders at Castle Hills Elementary in San Antonio, TX. ???????????? We had chicken, broccoli, blueberries, mashed potatoes, and of course, Texas ruby red grapefruit. pic.twitter.com/lspP9msRuf
- Sec. Sonny Perdue (@SecretarySonny) January 17, 2020

Coming on Michelle Obama's birthday, the announcement was cast by some as a further effort by the Trump administration to back off the stricter school meal guidelines championed by the former first lady under the 2010 Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act.

The proposal "threatens the progress we've made toward improving nutrition in schools," Sen. Bobby Scott (D-Virginia), chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, said in a press release. "By reversing those standards, this rule ignores the overwhelming scientific research showing that nutritious school meals improve the lives, health and academic performance of students."

The new plan would allow schools to cut back on the servings of fruits and vegetables required under the 2010 law. The U.S. Department of Agriculture "is committed to implementing measures that reduce food waste in schools and promote efficient school food service operations," according to the proposed rule.

The plan builds on regulations issued in 2018 that loosened requirements related to dairy, sodium content and whole grains. SNA has been supportive of those changes.

In a press release following the event at Castle Hills Elementary in San Antonio, SNA President Gay Anderson said the relaxed rules have helped nutrition professionals manage challenges including food waste, reduced meal participation and higher costs while still preparing "nutritious meals that appeal to diverse student tastes."

In a statement released Wednesday, SNA expressed support for aspects of the new proposal, such as returning to a five-year review cycle for programs consistently in compliance and having additional flexibility over meal planning and a la carte sales. The organization will also collect feedback from members.

Proposed SNAP rules

School nutrition experts and advocates are also keeping watch on another proposal by the Trump administration that would affect students in poor families and those at schools participating in CEP.

The administration proposes to eliminate what it calls a loophole in which states can automatically make families eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program - and, therefore, free or reduced-price meals - if they receive minimal assistance, like a brochure, through the federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families welfare program. The provision is called "broad-based categorical eligibility."

Under the proposal, a family would have to receive at least $50 a month in TANF cash or non-cash benefits, such as subsidized employment, work support or child care, for at least six months in order to be eligible for SNAP.

According to the USDA's analysis, almost a million students would no longer automatically qualify for free meals through SNAP. Of those, about 445,000 would still be income-eligible for free meals, 497,000 would switch from the free to the reduced-price category, and about 40,000 would pay full price.

CEP allows schools to offer free meals to all students if at least 40% of their students qualify based on family income. Because most qualify through the SNAP program, the proposal would affect those percentages.

In a blog post last October, FitzSimons and Ellen Vollinger, FRAC's legal/food stamp director, wrote the plan could increase unpaid meal debt. "And in the districts that do not provide meals to children who do not have money in their school meals account, children will be sitting in classrooms hungry," they wrote.

The USDA is still reviewing the thousands of comments that have been submitted on the plan, and any change would unlikely affect schools participating in the program for the 2020-21 school year.

In a commentary last week, Brandon Lipps, deputy undersecretary of Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services at the USDA, said the vast majority of students would still be eligible for free or reduced price meals under the plan.

" Families receiving SNAP are looking for a helping hand in a time of need," he wrote. "They don't need fearmongering. They need the truth, and they need us to work together to strengthen the program to safeguard benefits for those most in need."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
More states expanding students' access to free school meals

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A Vermont bill that would make school meals free for all students is just one example of how anti-hunger advocates are pushing in the direction of universal school meals. Concerns over lunch shaming, unpaid meal debt and proposals from the Trump administration to tighten eligibility for nutrition programs are being met with efforts to cover meal costs for more children who don't already qualify for free meals.

# data[].attributes.body
* Coronavirus closed schools and closed schools mean no breakfast or lunch for many students.
* Coronavirus caused employers to lay off workers which means no money coming in and no food coming into the house.
* One third of parents in a survey stated that they had skipped a meal in order for their children to eat in the last month.
* A majority of the schools have set up a food service distribution, but it is just not enough.
* San Antonio alone is distributing food daily through 29 campuses and 65 bus routes and they still are not feeding all of the hunger students.
* Other states have similar situations and all are asking for help.

Mitchell, C. (2020). As demand for food grows under coronavirus, schools step up. EducationWeek.org

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Infection risks, funding worries deepen concerns

As the coronavirus crisis has forced millions of children out of school cafeterias and millions of their parents into unemployment, the social safety net of free school meals has begun to fray.

More districts are turning to food banks and nonprofits for help, reconfiguring meal distribution plans, and authorizing hazard pay for front-line employees to keep them safe-and on the job.

But even their best efforts to confront child hunger may just be scratching the surface of growing and unprecedented need.

In the last month, more than a third of parents reported skipping entire meals for their children or cutting the size of servings because they did not have enough money for food, according to a nationally representative survey of 1,025 families from Hunger Free America.

"Schools are making heroic efforts to get children food, but they're not able to do it alone," said Joel Berg, the chief executive officer of the New York City-based nonprofit. "How long can families survive with this level of hunger? They're hanging on now, but every week it's going to get worse."

Jenny Arredondo, the executive director of child nutrition services for the San Antonio Independent schools, in Texas, has seen the desperation and fallout from economic collapse first-hand.

While 10,000-plus families lined up for a pre-Easter San Antonio Food Bank giveaway last week, the school district prepared and distributed close to 40,000 meals the following Monday.

While many other districts around the country have reduced the number of food distribution sites since the coronavirus crisis began, the San Antonio schools expanded. When schools shuttered on March 16, the district handed out meals at eight high schools. Now, a month later, the district uses 29 school campuses for drive-up and walk-in distribution and 65 bus routes to get food to families in need.

Under the old setup, families would walk miles to and from schools to secure food.

"It's just been so sobering," Arredondo said. The food "was always needed, but it's needed now more so than ever and you see it. You can truly see it."

Hazardous Conditions

A survey conducted for the School Nutrition Association last month just as many schools began to close, found that more than 90 percent of food service directors were at least moderately worried that students would miss meals-a fear that has come to fruition.

Now, as nearly every school meal program in the nation transitioned from cafeterias to the curbside, their needs have shifted as well, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the organization.

Demand for personal protective equipment has emerged as a new and urgent concern. Many school districts were already well-stocked with gloves, a staple of the food service industry, but are now facing a severe shortage of masks and aprons.

See Also: New Rule Lets Parents Pick Up Free Meals for Children During Coronavirus Closures

Food service directors are keenly aware that a single employee contracting COVID-19 could bring entire operations to a screeching halt and that their employees face on-the-job hazards much like their grocery store brethren.

"I don't ever want to promise a meal program or a location for our community and not be able to sustain it," said Arredondo. "We're in the business of feeding kids. But it's a different game now. The world has changed."

An Education Week review of news reports found that school food employees have died in at least four states-Missouri, Nevada, New York, and Texas-but it is unclear if the employees contracted COVID-19 on the job or elsewhere.

The San Diego Unified school board approved hazard pay for food service, delivery workers, and custodial staff. Hundreds of employees in the 103,000-student district will receive time-and-a-half pay, retroactive to mid-March when the shutdown began.

'What If Something Happens?'

Last week, a school employee in Jefferson County, Ala., was rushed to the hospital last week after experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. The test eventually came back negative, but the scare caused enough concern for the 36,000-student district to shut down food sites for two days.

At least a half-dozen districts in north central Alabama have halted food distribution, reports the news site al.com, as they are forced to choose between feeding hungry children and curbing the spread of coronavirus.

Jefferson County schools Superintendent Walter Gonsoulin had long feared that one of the district's food service employees, who are predominately older women, could contract the virus.

"I was always thinking, 'Oh my god, what if something happens?" Gonsoulin said. "But our kids need to eat."

After the two-day shutdown, the district restarted service with help from Kikstart Inc., a nonprofit that has served close to 25,000 meals in school districts around Birmingham and Selma.

In response to increased need in the region, the Community Foodbank of Central Alabama has delivered more food more often to school campuses, even though schools are closed.

Helpline calls for food assistance have surged, increasing 700 percent in the last month, said Emily Wix, the director of partnerships at the food bank.

Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, which works with 900 partner agencies across 34 counties, is facing similar demand.

The region includes Durham County, where school officials shut down their school meal program for close to two weeks after an employee tested positive for COVID-19. After the positive test, the rush of staff applying for paid leave left the district unable to effectively operate the program.

The 33,000-student district, in partnership with local government and nonprofits, is now scheduled to resume service Thursday, providing breakfast and lunches for children prepared by local restaurants along with food supplies and casseroles for families.

The food bank has also set up 14 grab-and-go meal sites across the region to help feed children up to the age of 18 and provided emergency food boxes for families in the Wake County, N.C., school district.

"When one person is hungry in a house, they're likely not the only one," said Jennifer Caslin, marketing and project manager for the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina.

Combating Hunger

Michigan is one of nine states the United States Department of Agriculture has approved, as of Wednesday, for the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer Program, which gives extra money for food to low-income families with children in closed schools. The funds are available on debit-like cards that can be used in food stores.

In Michigan alone, families of 895,000 students enrolled in free and reduced lunch programs are eligible. That number may mask the scope of need in the state: More than 1 million state residents in the state have filed for federal unemployment benefits.

The Hunger Free America survey found that adult hunger is also on the rise and that 38 percent of households nationwide reported a loss in income over the past month.

Approved by Congress as part of the COVID-19 relief efforts, the pandemic food benefits of at least $5.25 per child per day, are meant to supplement, not supplant, efforts by local school districts to feed children.

In Muskegon Heights, a city in the western half of the state, school workers are delivering meals along bus routes with door-to-door service for medically fragile children and other students with disabilities.

The school district has been forced to adjust its meal delivery methods four times in the past four weeks. The motivation to keep food service going is two-fold: feed the school district's 650 students and keep residents employed, Superintendent Rane' Garcia said.

The need for food has long been dire in Muskegon Heights, one of the state's most economically depressed communities. Before the statewide school shutdown, which will now continue for the rest of the school year, the district was already serving free lunch and breakfast and packaging a take-home meal for every student daily.

On some days during the shutdown, the school system has served more meals per day than it has students because many children who live there attend schools in nearby districts.

"If they can show up to one of our buses, we're not asking what school they go to," Garcia said. "If we don't provide this, families will struggle. The trauma and insecurity that people are seeing across the country has been a part of our community for a long time."

Garcia is unsure how much the pandemic benefit will help families in her community. There are no full-service grocery stores within the district borders; the lone food shopping option for families without transportation is a Dollar General that sells snacks, drinks, and canned food and vegetables but no fresh produce.

Last summer, in a push to quell violence and hunger, the city hosted a "Guns for Groceries" swap, where people could exchange their guns for a $100 grocery gift card to use at a big-box store in a neighboring community.

"We had a major hunger crisis when things were going great," said Berg, the Hungry Free America CEO. "We're acculturated to expect happy endings, but that's not what always happens. Poor people suffer more and they always have."

Published in Print: April 29, 2020, as Schools Struggle to Meet Rising Demand for Food

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.
Back to Top

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
As Demand for Food Grows Under Coronavirus, Schools Step Up

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As the coronavirus crisis has forced millions of children out of school cafeterias and millions of their parents into unemployment, the social safety net of free school meals has begun to fray. More districts are turning to food banks and nonprofits for help, reconfiguring meal distribution plans, and authorizing hazard pay for front-line employees to keep them safe-and on the job.

# data[].attributes.body
Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (P.L. 111–296)
This law was signed on October 11, 1966 in order to meet nutritional needs of all children including those in the free school lunch program. This law was joined with the National School Lunch Program and the Special Milk Program to establish the School Breakfast Program which offered free or reduced cost breakfast to the food program.

# data[].attributes.body
Texas Education Code, Section 33.901 as amended by Senate Bill 376 (83rd Texas Legislative Session)

This law in the state of Texas requires all school districts, including private and charter districts, that have 80% or more of their students on free or reduced price meals to also offer free breakfast to every student in the district.

# data[].attributes.body
RICHARD B. RUSSELL NATIONAL SCHOOL LUNCH ACT  (79 P.L. 396, 60 Stat. 230)

This law created in 1946 provides low cost or free school lunches. The students must qualify financially and a subsidy is used to purchase the food being given for lunch. The purpose of this law was to help farmers with revenue while helping to feed all students.

# data[].attributes.body
Chico ISD (2020, April, 20). Board Policy Manual, Food and Nutrition Management. Retrieved from https://pol.tasb.org/Policy/Download/1259?filename=COB(LEGAL).pdf
Chico ISD School Board Policy states that if any school in the district qualifies with the 80% requirements for free breakfast that all campuses will provide free breakfasts to all students on all campuses. The board does have the option to waive this program for one year if they can provide an alternative to free federally funded breakfasts.

# data[].attributes.body
Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act  (PUBLIC LAW 111–296)

This federally funded statute signed into effect by President Obama funds school lunch programs and sets nutritional requirements for all food provided in the school atmosphere. In order for the schools to receive federal funding, these nutritional requirements must be met. This statute was personally backed by First Lady Michelle Obama.

# data[].attributes.body
Wu, S. (2011).Fed Up with Lunch: The School Lunch Project: How One Anonymous Teacher Revealed the Truth About School Lunches --And How We Can Change Them! Chronicle Books, LLC.

The book referenced in this slide is about a teacher who decided that the school lunches were a problem, both nutrionally and financially. It is related to the topic of lunches and hjow they can determine a student's progress toward successful learning.

# data[].attributes.body
* Always put students at the top of your priorities.
* Never assume that students are fine when they are extremely quiet and withdrawn.
* Develop a relationship with your students so that they know that you are someone they can talk to.
* Be flexible and ho9nest with all students; do not lie to them or mislead them.
*Students may not have a way to eat, bethe, complete homework, or anything other than care for their siblings while at home.
* Be fair, open and honest and always be there for all students.

# data[].attributes.body
One ethical principle that can be addressed is from the ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors: “School counselors have a primary obligation to the students, who are to be treated with dignity and respect as unique individuals” (A.1.a). The responsibility of all school staff members is to act in the best interests of all students is the essential part of a school counselor's job. While supporting student development, the faculty, staff, and administrators must always provide a safe, effective and disturbance free learning environment and for some students this means that they have proper nutrional needs being meet.