'Something we’ve never done’: Florida schools drain reserves to feed kids at home
TALLAHASSEE — A pandemic-driven budget shortfall across Florida school districts is threatening local meals programs, a core function whose funding is fanning a bitter political feud over how to direct precious money.
Students are eating significantly fewer school meals across the 2020-21 academic year amid the monthslong public health crisis but districts are collectively seeing a financial hole as deep as $370 million, according to Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried. Food service costs are higher this year in part because schools are sending thousands of meals home with students who are learning remotely. Schools changed how they serve meals so they could reach more students, especially with scores yet to return to their campuses and unemployment rates still soaring high above pre-pandemic levels.
To make that happen, districts switched to buying more expensive pre-packaged or shelf-stable food items that can last students longer. That includes giving students frozen food in some cases, something that was unheard of before the pandemic.
“The challenge is how to reach kids at home,” Allison Monbleau, director of food service for Palm Beach County School District, said in an interview. “It’s something we’ve never done.”
But the multimillion-dollar loss in nutrition funding has put incredible pressure on education leaders who are already having to dip into their reserves to avoid laying off critical employees. The issue is set to play out in front of the state Board of Education on Wednesday as increasingly desperate districts attempt to raise the alarm just as all levels of government scramble for funds.
Palm Beach County, like many school districts, has seen a dramatic reduction in the number of students who eat school meals this year. The district is serving meals to about 103,000 students now, a steep drop from approximately 170,000 students last year, Monbleau said.
The department started the school year with $7.5 million in contingency, she said. Now, with the change in the meals program, the district’s food service department reported losses of around $6 million, eating into their reserves, Monbleau said.
About 65 percent of students in Florida, some 1.65 million, are taking in-person classes, leaving thousands of students who are either learning from home or unaccounted for this school year, according to the latest Department of Education data.
Citrus County is experiencing a similar trend, Roy Pistone II, director of food services with Citrus County School District, said in an interview. The district is serving 104,000 fewer lunches compared to this time last year, along with 45,000 fewer breakfasts, he said.
For months, Fried, whose agency oversees the National School Lunch Program, has pushed for putting federal CARES Act dollars toward feeding students. But so far, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration has ignored requests from Fried, the state's only statewide elected Democrat, to bring up the issue, including letters sent in September and December.
Citizens should be outraged that Florida won’t consider pumping more CARES money into school lunches like other states, including California and Vermont, Fried said in an interview with POLITICO.
Some 23 percent of adults living in households with children reported they either sometimes or often lacked enough food between Nov. 11 and Dec. 7, according to recent data from KIDS COUNT, an Annie E. Casey Foundation project. That mark was 15 percent during the June 25 and July 7 survey.
“What could be more important than prioritizing that kids who need food continue to get what they need?” Fried said.
The DeSantis administration, however, maintains that there is CARES Act money still available to schools for food services.
The governor's office, in response to questions from POLITICO, said that food and nutrition services are already allowable expenses with the CARES Act education funding.
Many school districts and campuses, in fact, are already using the money for food services, DeSantis spokesperson Meredith Beatrice said in an email.
Yet Fried's office maintains no knowledge of school food service departments receiving those funds, according to Fried spokesperson Franco Ripple.
Beatrice reported that approximately $480 million of the $693 million districts received in the first round of CARES funding remains unspent and that more aid is coming in the recently signed federal relief package.
Still, school leaders now plan to broach the issue with the Board of Education as losses mount. The Florida Association of District School Superintendents notes that the downturn in school meal participation has “affected the general finances of districts at a time when resources are already stretched thin.”
“This is leading to difficult decisions, including layoffs in some districts, at a time when we are already struggling to keep our food service operations sufficiently staffed to meet the new demands and safety protocols," Diane Kornegay, superintendent of Lake County School District, wrote in comments published ahead of Wednesday’s scheduled board meeting.
Schools have created grab-and-go sites for students and families to pick up curbside meals and are trying ideas like sending food to students on bus routes to drive up participation. In Palm Beach County, the school district is running close to 100 meal pickup sites and allows students to pick multiple meals in one day.
The school district gave out boxes with 16 days of food ahead of the holidays, meals that reached some 17,000 students with the help of local organizations, Monbleau said.
On top of financial concerns, food service directors also say they are dealing with new challenges with manufacturers and supply lines. That keeps them on their toes and constantly adapting new menus on the fly.
But despite these headaches, Pistone said employees are "working their tails off" because they love taking care of students.
“If anything, this has brought what we do to fuel education more to light,” Pistone said.
