La Crosse students advocating for free school meals to continue
LA CROSSE, Wis. (WEAU) - Students at Southern Bluffs Elementary are speaking out about the importance of school meals.
Since the start of the pandemic, the USDA has been reimbursing schools for free meals to all students, regardless of their family’s income.
It’s an initiative that Nutrition Manager Heather Skiles says has benefited the students of Southern Bluffs.
“Our average in February of 2020 was about 60,” Skiles detailed. “Currently, here we are two years later, we are up to 211 breakfasts a day.”
For the district as a whole, more than 300,000 school breakfasts have been served this school year alone.
However, a spending bill being formed by Congress may spell the end of the program.
Lawmakers are debating whether or not to extend the nutrition waivers administered through the USDA for another school year.
Skiles says there are some families who are unable to provide their children with food in the morning, and the program coming to an end may impact student success.
“You can’t focus if you’re trying to work on an empty stomach, I mean even as adults, we struggle whenever we get hungry throughout the day,” Skiles expressed. “For these kids, it’s super important for them to get a good breakfast in the morning, and if we can offer that here, that’s huge.”
Marcia Gardner’s fourth-grade class at Southern Bluffs is taking a stand in support of an extension.
As part of National School Breakfast Week, students will be writing letters to legislators about how the free meal program has benefited them.
“My class just by chance happens to be one of the highest eaters of breakfast in our building,” Gardner said. “We have to write persuasive and opinion pieces, and we might as well write for something we’re passionate about.”
The letters will be sent to Wisconsin lawmakers who represent the Coulee Region, including Rep. Ron Kind, Rep. Jill Billings, and Sen. Brad Pfaff.
Gardner hopes students take away a larger lesson from the project.
“That even as a nine and ten-year-old, that their voices matters,” Gardner explained. “You can respectfully say, this affects me, and I want someone to know.”
Students will write the letters this week, and Gardner plans to mail them on Monday.
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