The North Judson-San Pierre School Board accepted a donation last week, but not without concerns that the money could be put to better use. N.J.-S.P. got a $100 anonymous donation to help with negative lunch account balances, but limited that to students getting free and reduced lunch.
Superintendent Dr. Annette Zupin previously explained that students who qualify for free lunch could still end up with a negative account balance if they buy additional items. A $250 donation for the same purpose was approved during last month’s board meeting.
Last week, Board Member Sandy Kersting-Rudd voiced some concern. “I like getting money,” she said, “but I have a problem with it, with the free and reduced lunches getting money to be able to buy snacks or whatever.”
Zupin noted that people want to help, but there seems to be some confusion about who they’re really helping. She noted that there seems to be a perception that there are lots of kids who are not able to eat, but stressed that’s not the case. “They do not go without eating,” Zupin said. “In fact, now, we don’t even make them get an alternative lunch, which used to be kind of a protocol for many of the schools. Now, they can get the regular hot lunch and they can do that for so many days, and then we try to make phone calls.”
Zupin said that if people want to make sure students are well-nourished, one thing that might help would be to provide breakfast to every student during ILEARN testing. “It would make sure that they are at school with food in their body and ready to take that test,” Zupin explained. “And that would benefit everybody, and we can do that. It costs about, I believe, a dollar or $1.50 per student. And so I believe it’s time for me to ask donors if they would be willing to go that route.”
The superintendent said that she wants and needs to continue to accept support, but she wants to make sure it’s helping the right people.
