RICHMOND, Va. — A new federal program that makes free breakfast and lunch available to all students, no questions asked, has been slow to catch on in Virginia.
Nearly a quarter of the state’s 1,827 public schools were eligible to participate this year, but only 86 schools signed up — 44 of them in Richmond.
Many school divisions decided to wait because of concerns with implementation, fear of losing access to a key indicator of poverty that is used to procure everything from federal funding to private grants, and uncertainty over costs.
“I think some of that is getting the word out, letting others learn from the experiences of those that are participating,” said Virginia Secretary of Education Anne Holton.
“I think it’s going to take getting some districts experimenting with it, getting early adopters working out the wrinkles, then sharing their experiences with others.”
Virginia first lady Dorothy McAuliffe has made wide acceptance of the program — known as the Community Eligibility Provision from the U.S. Department of Agriculture — a key component in her push to expand access to healthful foods to hungry Virginians. She hired a chief of staff who has experience in food issues, and has spent most of the year campaigning for programs such as the one for schools.
“There are 300,000 food-insecure children in Virginia, a number nobody can be comfortable with,” she said.
“As a mom, to think about a hungry baby, school child, teenager, it’s very, very painful. … Food is the basic necessity that children need to learn to grow to do all those other things in life.”
Getting that food to children isn’t as easy as it sounds.
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 created a way for school systems to eliminate applications for free and reduced-price meals by making food available to every student.