Stamford students have to pay for lunch again. They shouldn't have to
Little bit of a rant, but the Board of Ed last night passed their $350 million budget last night which included the end of the free-meals-for-all program. After the pandemic, lunches were supplemented to SPS students via the Community Eligibility Provision, which connected the district to the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs.
This move to end free-meals-for-all ultimately saved the district $1 million while pushing this costs onto families who don't meet the free or reduced lunch requirements, which is 46.3% of all students (7,105), according to data from CT Edsight. This would mean an additional $140 per student not eligible for free-reduced lunch for the 2026-27 academic year.
Please believe me when I say having lunch be free matters. The requirements for free-reduced lunch specifically cater to low-income children who are basically on the brink, failing to account for middle class families who, on paper, look like they're doing well, but are actually balancing on tightropes.
As someone who attended SPS and graduated during the free-lunch era, having to not worry about if I had debt on my lunch account made my school experience miles better than when I was in the fifth grade. I want you to imagine what it's like to be told every day that I had lunch debt because my parents couldn't afford to put anything on my account that month, and having my classmates hear that.
They should've just taken the $1 million on the chin, or at least found somewhere else to cut. This is dumb and my heart goes out to the kids who now have to face the same thing I did.