Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 6, 1995 TAG: 9503060030
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Jason Bond doesn't like Newt Gingrich's proposal to end the federal school lunch program and shift the money and responsibility to the states.
The William Fleming High School student worries that it could mean higher meal prices in Roanoke's school cafeterias, and cause some students to lose their free lunches.
"I'm against raising prices. I don't think meals should be any higher than $1.05," Bond said.
"They go up five cents every year. Not everybody has the money for an increase," said Thomasina Hairston, a junior at Fleming.
Lunch prices might have to increase 25 to 30 cents if the proposal by Gingrich and Republicans in Congress passes, said Richard Kelley, assistant superintendent for operations for Roanoke.
In Roanoke County, Food Services Supervisor Pauline Holloway worries that lunch prices, now $1.10 for high school students, might have to be increased by 35 to 40 cents.
"A lot of parents can't afford that. I don't know what they will do," Holloway said.
Because of proposed reductions in subsidies both for those who pay for meals and those receiving free meals, Holloway said lunch prices would have to be raised if there are no reductions in free lunches.
Forty-five percent of Roanoke students receive free lunches, ranking the city fifth in the state. Another 3 percent are eligible for reduced-priced lunches.
Under the GOP proposal, the funds for free and reduced-priced lunches would be shifted to the states as part of a block grant.
School officials, worried that the states would not keep the same eligibility standards, are mobilizing to fight the proposals. Holloway has met with Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, and the city School Board plans to send resolutions opposing the proposals to Goodlatte and Sens. Charles Robb and John Warner.
"The current federal school food service program is an integral part of our educational program," said Roanoke Superintendent Wayne Harris. "Its reduction will have a detrimental effect on children, particularly those at risk of failure and dropping out."
The Republicans said the change would not abolish the school lunch programs, but would shift them to the states, which would be in a better position to oversee and regulate them.
"There would be no strings attached to the states to ensure that they would run [school lunch programs] the same way," said Nelson Harris, chairman of the Roanoke School Board.
Roanoke school officials are worried about losing the free lunches because nearly 6,000 students receive them.
In Roanoke County, only 13 percent of the 13,500 students are eligible for free or reduced-priced meals.
Yet, Holloway said, the county would be hurt because a federal subsidy of 17 cents on meals bought by students would be eliminated, in addition to 15 cents a meal in food commodities.
"The block grants may provide meals for economically deprived children, but there will be no assurance of money for nutritious food for all children," Holloway said.
Started four decades ago, the school lunch program was designed to provide nutritious meals to children and help ensure that the armed services could recruit healthy young people, she said.
"It was not a welfare program, but this would turn it mainly into one,'' Holloway said.
Holloway said the food service program is part of a healthy environment needed to foster learning.
Thomas Powers, director of food services for Roanoke, said the school meals programs have been expanded in recent years, and they could be affected by changes in the federal program.
Powers said breakfast, which costs 60 cents, in particular has become popular. The city served 418,847 breakfasts at all schools in the past year. Cafeteria workers begin preparing the meal at 6 a.m.
The city served 1,441,578 lunches in the past year.
Roanoke has 210 food service workers. The biggest problem is finding enough employees to staff the cafeterias, Powers said.
Powers, who has worked in food service for nearly 20 years, has seen broad changes. He began as a dishwasher and deliveryman who worked his way up to become director eight years ago.
Food courts have been added at William Fleming to offer salads and other specialities to provide variety for lunches.
Powers has been negotiating with pizza and fast-food restaurants about selling their products to students occasionally, but it's difficult to negotiate such arrangements because nearly half the students receive free lunches and can't afford to buy the fast food.
"We try to balance keeping students happy while we keep receiving our federal subsidy and providing the meals," Powers said.
He said the full impact of the proposed change in the school lunch program won't be known until the details have been resolved by the state.
Powers believes that suburban school systems and localities with relatively small numbers of children from low-income families might be hurt the most financially. But some officials believe that school systems with a high rate of free-lunch students, such as Roanoke, stand to lose the most.
by CNB