There is a reason students who qualify for free and reduced
lunch at the high school and middle schools must stand in a
separate line, according to School District officials: the state
says so.
There is a reason students who qualify for free and reduced lunch at the high school and middle schools must stand in a separate line, according to School District officials: the state says so.
“We have to have a separate line for the nutritional food the state requires we serve and the snack-type food – pizza, chips, doughnuts – that most of the students prefer,” Deputy Superintendent Bonnie Branco said Monday.
But, Branco said Live Oak administrators will work with district food service personnel and students to find a solution.
Live Oak senior and Student Body President Andy Cunningham raised the issue during the Dec. 9 board meeting, and trustees asked district staff to look into the matter.
Students who have signed up for the free or reduced price lunch program at the school – meaning their family income is below a certain point – have to line up in a designated place to receive the nurtritious lunches, Cunningham said.
He told trustees that the other students know why they are there, and the students are embarrassed.
The issue was also raised during an earlier City/School Liaison Committee meeting, when Assistant Superintendent Claudette Beaty was discussing student testing and the fact that the number of Live Oak students not declaring themselves as qualified for free and reduced lunch would affect the school’s and district’s ranking in the Academic Performance Index (API).
Students’ reluctance to separate themselves into what is known to be a food line for economically disadvantaged is understandable, Branco said, but the Education Code is very specific.
The California Education Code states: Foods of Minimal Nutritional Value (FMNV) may not be sold in the food service areas as defined below:
INDOOR – Anywhere federally reimbursable meals are served (including cafeterias, multipurpose rooms in use as cafeterias, courts and other indoor locations) or OUTDOOR – Points of sale/service where federally reimbursable meals are sold/served (including such points of sale as service windows, mobile service carts, kiosk lines, barbecue stands and other similar dispersed arrangements).”
Branco said district officials and students will visit or contact other schools to find out how they manage the situation.
The idea is to plan a program “that offers all students access to school lunches/brunches in a non-segregated area,” according to the district, and report findings to the board before the end of the school year.
“Whatever changes are necessary, we hope to implement those at the beginning of the next school year,” Branco said.
During the meeting, Branco introduced Janet Foti, the new district director of student nutritional services. Foti is taking over for Mary Ann Grewohl, who is retiring at the end of the month.
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