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"On Wednesdays, I become a debt collections agent, and I chase the parents of families that have begun to accumulate lunch debt."
That was Alexander Local School District (Athens County) Director of Food and Nutrition Daryn Guarino speaking to an Ohio House Finance subcommittee on primary and secondary education, as Ohio's lawmakers consider education funding issues. Guarino is among the growing list of Ohio public school administrators who say funding free meals for students should be a "no-brainer."
"With appropriate state funding to pick up where the federal funding falls short, school food service departments in our urban cities and in our rural counties could offer breakfast and lunch at no cost to all students, eliminating all the stigma that has perpetuated for decades around school meal benefits," said Alexis Weber, food service director for Austintown Local Schools in Mahoning County.
According to a Baldwin Wallace poll, 87% of Ohio parents said meals should be provided without regard for the student's ability to pay for the food. Doing so greatly reduces the possibility that some children will be at an academic disadvantage because they are hungry throughout the school day; and it erases the "pride gap" because of parents worried about the stigma of their child receiving free or reduced price lunch.
Students deserve to know there's something better when they attend our public schools.
They deserve to know that there they will learn, grow, and be supported on their way to reaching their potential. They can't do that if hunger is a constant reminder of the obstacles they face.
Lawmakers who have spent so much time lately crowing about how much they care about children have this one handed to them, if that is what they truly want.