Crivitz school community divided on paying for healthier meals

CRIVITZ – Parents of Crivitz School District students have a healthy appetite for providing input on school meals. The school district received over 100 written comments in response to a survey it sent to the school community this spring.

After parents spoke at a February school board meeting about the amount of sugary foods served at breakfast, the school district sent a survey to families to determine whether parents would support more low-processed meals if it meant paying for breakfast and lunch. Currently, the school provides free breakfast to all students in their classrooms, but not all students take it.

Of 475 elementary students, about 326 had a free breakfast on a recent day, according to information the district provided. Of 317 middle school students, about half have a free breakfast at school, a district staff member said. The school board also has discussed providing lunch meals made with less processed foods.

The number of students eating breakfast at school are significantly higher than they were when students were required to eat breakfast in the school cafeteria, said Superintendent Kelly Robinson. She said about 90 students ate breakfast in the cafeteria when it was served there, but stragglers were an issue as they arrived late to the classrooms after lessons had started.

“We had lots of issues with tardiness. They come into the cafeteria when they should be coming into the classroom and say, ‘I didn’t get to eat breakfast.’ The teachers who are monitoring [them] have to get to their classrooms. It is something to manage,” said Robinson, who was principal when the school district offered breakfast in the cafeteria.

“If they would have to come in earlier, we would have to have more staff monitoring the lunchroom,” Robinson said. “The board can make a decision on extra staffing.”

The cost of low-processed food also would be higher. A foodservice administrator said the cost of prepared chicken patties is about $27 for 40 servings, compared to $76 for 40 servings of grilled chicken.

“So, just like everybody’s budget at home, I’ve got to figure out where we can bring in stuff a little less expensive,” she said.

Most of the survey responses pertained to breakfast, though some people used the opportunity to make specific requests. One respondent asked for a salad bar at lunch for high school students.

As part of the February discussion on foodservice, the board talked about the possibility of providing hot breakfast meals, such as breakfast sandwiches, made with eggs and sausage, prepared at school instead of the breakfast bars and other sugary, highly processed foods the school provides as part of the free breakfast program, which federal dollars pay for.

To learn more about families’ priorities, the board devised a survey that asked parents their thoughts on paying for meals versus relying on free school meals.

The school district received responses from about 139 respondents, with most including additional comments. As a result, the feedback was more extensive than Robinson said the board had time to consider at the May 21 board meeting.

About 53% of 139 respondents gave the school district a three or four on a five-point scale when asked how satisfied they are with the meals provided to students from the school cafeteria.

Around 77% of respondents have elementary school-aged children at the school, while 71% of respondents have middle school-aged children, the responses indicated. Many have children in both age groups.

About 91% of respondents have children who eat at least four meals per week at school, while 63% have children who eat over six meals per week at school, according to the survey responses.

When asked what their highest priority is regarding meals at school, about two-thirds said low-processed foods, followed by taste/attractiveness, low sugar and high protein foods.

In the comments, many parents said they would be willing to pay for higher quality meals consisting of low-processed foods, while others said the free meal program is important to maintain.

Dozens of comments in favor of better-quality food included: “Feed our kids good food;” “I would rather pay for quality, good nutritional food;” “I am all for paying extra for kids to have higher-quality meals;” and “Nutrition is more important than cost.”

There were less, but still a considerable amount, of responses in support of keeping the school meals free.

They included: “Free meals should be a priority as many of the families in our district struggle financially;” “I would rather have free processed foods instead of paying for meals. It has helped immensely for food costs on a fixed budget;” and “Since foods have been free in our buildings a lot more students have been seen eating when they’ve never eaten before.”

At least one respondent said families who can afford to provide higher-quality foods could provide breakfasts and lunches for their own students, while allowing the district to continue providing free meals. In this way, every student would have access to breakfast and lunch.

Another said, “I think the district should be looking at ways to make our current free program more healthy. Start small. We shouldn’t take away a free meal program that you have stated at board meetings is having a very high participation rate.”

Others said, “I am forever grateful for the free meals. It has helped our family not have to worry about student lunch fees;” and “We are thankful for the free meals, but would much rather have healthier choices for the kids. All the sugary preprocessed foods aren’t a good start to a child’s day.”

Comments specific to breakfast were divided. For example, one respondent said, “I do agree with not relying on prepackaged products for breakfast. I do think having breakfast in the cafeteria and offering even easy things to cook – eggs, toast, sausage, etc., would be a way better option.” Others said, “Breakfast should not be offered;” and “Kids can eat breakfast at home. Maybe a mid-morning fruit option would be nice.”

Several said they would not participate in breakfast if they had to pay for it.

At the May board meeting, Robinson said only students who don’t qualify for free meals would be paying. “Try and push for everyone to fill out the [free and reduced lunch] foodservice applications,” she said. “It helps with our Title 1 reading [funding]. All of that goes off of our free and reduced number.”

Families don’t have to be receiving a public benefit to qualify, Robinson said. Eligibility is based on income and household size. “Even the reduced budget makes a huge difference. The cost of a reduced meal is 40 cents,” Robinson explained.