The start of National School Lunch Week on Monday prompted the National School Board Association (NSBA) to call for flexibility and relief from U.S. Congress and the Department of Agriculture in dealing with the "unintended consequences of onerous requirements for federal school meal programs in the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act," the NSBA said.
Part of the act includes a revamping of nutritional standards spearheaded by First Lady Michelle Obama, but a new survey of school leaders conducted by the NSBA shows that since the law was passed in 2010, waste, cost and non-participation levels have all increased.
"83.7 percent of school districts saw an increase in plate waste, 81.8 percent had an increase in cost, and 76.5 percent saw a decrease in participation by students," the NSBA survey found.
"To address the issues," wrote the NSBA, "75 percent of school leaders encourage an increase in federal funding for school districts to comply with the new standards and 60.3 percent support additional flexibility for school districts to improve their ability to provide good nutrition without harm to instruction, personnel, and other school district operations."
While NSBA Executive Director Thomas J. Gentzel said he believes good nutrition is an absolute necessity, school leaders are concerned about consequences of such federally regulated programs.
"Trays of uneaten cafeteria food thrown in the trash, hungry kids, and struggling school food-service programs are the practical realities many school districts and students face," said Gentzel.
NSBA said they hope to get some relief from the temporary waiver option found in the 2015 funding bill for the Department of Agriculture, as well as the Reducing Federal Mandates on School Lunch Act, which would provide additional options for school struggling to comply with the "more problematic mandates of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act," according to the press release.
An audit of the school lunch program released in January by the Government Accountability Office found that 48 of the 50 states claimed it was difficult to comply with the entirety of the program, and 1,086,000 students stopped buying school lunches because of the overpriced and unappealing meals.
The GAO report also found that a total of 321 districts in 42 states stopped participating in the National School Lunch Program in 2012 and 2013, with 27 of these states saying that the new requirements played a factor in their decision to not participate.
