Free breakfasts for all Juneau School District students resume Monday
- Mark Sabbatini
- Sep 10
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 10
Revival comes after legislators override veto to state education funding increase; concerns about short meal times and meal-assistance applications voiced at school board meeting
By Mark Sabbatini
Juneau Independent
Free breakfasts for all Juneau School District students are set to resume Monday after funding for the meals was unanimously approved Tuesday night by the Juneau Board of Education.
Spending $230,000 to restore the universal breakfast program occurred after the Alaska Legislature last month overrode a veto by Gov. Mike Dunleavy to $200 of a $700 increase in per-student state education funding. The override added about $1.5 million to the district’s roughly $80 million operating budget for the fiscal year that began July 1.
Free breakfasts for all students were launched with federal funding during the COVID-19 pandemic. But the school board opted in July to let the program end because federal funding had lapsed and other sources of funding were lacking. Free breakfasts were still available to students who qualified for free or reduced-price school lunches.
Restoring the program was part of a list of "add-backs" compiled for the school board using the funds available from the veto override, with various staff positions comprising most of the other items near the top of the list. Nicole Herbert, the district’s chief financial officer, told board members Tuesday that NANA Management Services is ready to begin serving the additional breakfasts to students.
"We think next Monday would be a good effective date," she said. "So we have the rest of the week, if this does get approved, to communicate to families as effectively as possible."
Parents who have already made advance payments for meals should be able to obtain reimbursement or future credit toward other paid school meals, Herbert said.
A concern expressed in recent months by some school board officials is the universal free breakfast program reduces the number of eligible families applying for free and reduced-priced lunches, since there is less incentive to apply. The district receives federal reimbursement for meals provided to students from those families.
Superintendent Frank Hauser, responding to that concern when it was raised again Tuesday, said efforts are being made to reach out to impacted families.
"We did see a drop across the nation with free and reduced-price lunch applications during the pandemic when meals were made free," he said. "And so coming back from that has been a steady increase in climb, but we continue to be proactive in trying to communicate with families that there are still benefits for filling this out."
Restoring the breakfasts was popular among parents, students and staff testifying during Tuesday’s meeting. But some concerns about aspects of the district’s meal program were also expressed.
Brooke Mosdal said her daughter skipped lunch at Kax̱dig̱oowu Héen Elementary School earlier during the day due to the short amount of time allotted for lunch periods.
"My concern is that, although the goal is to make food more accessible, I still believe that food is still inaccessible," Mosdal said. "And what I mean by that is the lunch time is only 15 minutes, and that includes the line and having to wait in line for your food. And this is a regular thing. There were multiple kids in the cafeteria that were at the end of the line by no fault of themselves, and by the time they got food and they were able to sit down they took two or three bites before that bell rang, and they had to throw all that food in the trash."
Parent Lorri Mar said meal assistance application forms are difficult to find on the website, which may discourage some families. Heather Miller, a staff member at Mendenhall River Community School, said there’s high turnover among office assistants in the district because it’s not a high-paying job, which may cause paperwork to lag.
Miller said fewer students are eating breakfast since the free program ended, so restoring it is a welcome change.
"I have kids that are obviously dipping into piggy banks — their own money," she said. "I have kids who are like, ‘I'm hungry, Miss Heather, but my parents can't afford the breakfast. I have to choose whether or not I eat lunch or breakfast. So I am wholeheartedly behind feeding children because that's how they succeed in school."
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
