Feeding students

Hannah Gross
NLJ Correspondent 
 
As of Jan. 7, the Weston County School District No. 1 student lunch debt totaled $4,788, according to food service spokesperson Denise Anderson. 
According to Anderson, the money for school lunches is collected from the students and the district also receives reimbursements from the state for each meal. Donations from the community also help to cover the cost of lunch debt. 
“We have a fund where people have donated money,” she said. 
Deb Sylte, the district’s business manager, said the lunch program costs more than $300,000 for “wages, benefits and expenditures,” but the number varies depending on enrollment. The fiscal year 2019 cost was $307,386, and for 2018, it was $341,000. 
The money is not budgeted from the general fund, according to Anderson.
Although the program is designed to be “self-sufficient,” Sylte said, “in the 17 years she’s worked there, it’s “never been self-sufficient.” 
Although the food lunch service is not funded from the general fund, money from that fund has been used “as needed” to help with expenditures.
The average amount taken from the general fund in the past four years is $50,000, varying from year to year, Sylte said. However, not all of it is used. In fiscal year 2019, $65,000 was transferred from the general fund to the school lunch account but $24,000 remained unspent. 
While the money from the general fund isn’t used to cover lunch debt, the school lunch account does help students’ debt. If a child needs help with a lunch payment, the principal notifies Anderson and she pulls the specified amount out of the general fund. She said that if any families need help with school meals, they shouldn’t hesitate to call the principal. 
“We would definitely help them,” she said. 
Both Anderson and Superintendent Brad LaCroix stressed that kids’ hunger comes first, even when they can’t pay for it. 
“A lot of people will tell you there’s no need for the school to do this,” said LaCroix. He said that people feel concerned that the money shouldn’t go to these kids when their parents have new phones or cars, but he believes this doesn’t “equate” to kids’ hunger. 
“All kids always eat,” LaCroix said. If students are unable to pay, they can still receive meals, and he added that they can set up a payment plan for the parents with “allocated monies” to help cover the costs. The school usually receives enough donations to offset the costs and come out even, according to LaCroix. 
“Every year, we have a group of people that gives privately for kids in need,” LaCroix said. In the past, the Wyoming Refinery has donated money and coats, and Pinnacle Bank gave over $20,000, which carried them through a few years, he said. Recently, Eva Halliday raised $542 through a fundraiser to cover lunch debts.  
“We rely a great deal on the kindness of people’s hearts,” LaCroix said. “It comes back to helping kids.”