LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. — With the start of a new school year, parents in the Lee's Summit School District are encouraged to sign-up for free or reduced-price lunch options for students.
"We give all students meals no matter what their status is," said Lori Danella, director of nutrition services at the Lee's Summit School District.
It means, regardless of a students financial or personal account status in the lunch program, Lee's Summit School District will not turn a child away. It's part of a larger effort to push universal feeding in schools across the nation.
"Research show when students have their meals, they’re attending school, test scores are up," Danella said. "It’s also been proven it leads to less trips to the nurse’s office."
During the COVID-19 pandemic, school districts across the nation were able to feed students district-wide for free.
Funding for the program was rolled back in recent years, but Lee's Summit School District is pushing for that program's return. As inflation hits the wallets of families in the Kansas City area, it is hitting the budgets of the school district, too.
"We ended last year with about $79,000 in negative balances for families that could not pay for their meals," Danella said.
Danella hopes state and federal lawmakers will see the need to increase meal reimbursements by 40 cents for school lunches and 15 cents for breakfast.
"We would like to go back to that universal feeding,” Danella said. "I think we need to let our legislators know how much our families are struggling and how much universal meals could help."
For a list of resources on free and reduced lunches in the Lee's Summit School District, click here.
Additional resources provided by the Lee's Summit School District are provided here.
Editor's Note: This story has been updated to reflect that the Lee's Summit School District is not feeding all students for free and encourages families to participate in the Free and Reduced Meal program. Significant discounts are available for families who qualify.
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