SOLON — Free breakfast, for all Solon Community School District (SCSD) students will resume Thursday, Dec. 1 and will run through the end of the school year.
Becky West, the district’s Nutrition Program Director, made the proposal during the Board of Education’s regular meeting Tuesday, Nov. 15, and pointed out the number of students having breakfast at school has dropped significantly since the discontinuance of free meals. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved waivers allowing universal free meals at schools. All students, regardless of financial status, were able to eat breakfast and lunch for free through the Families First Coronavirus Act, which was signed into law by President Donald Trump.
An extension was included in a $1.5 trillion spending bill, however it was not included in the final draft of the bill. Free or reduced meals for financially struggling families continued to be available through the USDA’s National School Lunch Program however for those who qualified.
“Currently, an average meal is around $300 per day to feed all of the students,” West said. “That breaks down to roughly $33,600 that we (the district) would spend.” The actual cost would be less, she explained, as the district continues to receive reimbursement for meals from the state. West estimated the cost to the SCSD would actually only be a little over $17,000 to provide free breakfasts to all students.
“I think it’s important that the kids are getting a meal as some are coming to school directly from sports (practice sessions, work-outs, etc.), and this helps some of the kids who can just grab it when they come in that need some extra, or they’re not getting it at home.”
Superintendent Davis Eidahl was in full support. “The board knows we have very good participation rates in all of our activities, and because of that, some of our activities are routinely (meeting) at 5:30 or 6:00 in the morning. So, that’s middle school all the way through the high school. Having these kids coming in at 5:30 or 6:00, go through a practice or an activity, or a meeting; we want to start their day off and if it’s free, its very convenient.” West’s management of the nutrition department, he said, “…has put us in a position financially with efficiencies and the way she runs the program, that its really not even a scratch into our savings.”
Board member Cassie Rochholz expressed her support and cited studies showing that offering breakfast in the schools increases test scores and learning. “This is a very important meal for every student.”
Vice President Adam Haluska also threw his support behind the proposal saying, “I think this does make a difference.” Haluska noted his three kids currently in the district and their early morning practice sessions. “The schools are busy like crazy every morning,” he said, “I think it’s a great idea.”
“That’s one of the first things that I noticed when I first moved to this community eight years ago,” Eidahl said. “Driving in one morning to drop my own son off at an early morning middle school practice, and the way the middle school and the high school was lit up, and the number of vehicles already there at 6:00 a.m. Wow. The day starts early here in Solon.”
The board approved the proposal 5-0.