TEPSA: school lunches increasingly important as COVID-19 continues

According to the Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association (TEPSA), the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized the importance of school meals.

The coronavirus pandemic has changed many things about the 2020 school year, but one thing hasn’t changed; students still need to eat. As the pandemic continues, it has highlighted the importance of school meals to children across Texas and the U.S.

Prior to the current health crisis, approximately 2.7 million Texas students relied on the free and reduced-price meals they received at school. That number is projected to rise this year as the economic impacts of the pandemic have made it more difficult for many families to pay bills and put food on the table.

The future of in-person vs. virtual instruction is unknown due to the pandemic | File Photo

The No Kid Hungry campaign recently released a new report, The Longest Summer: Childhood Hunger in the Wake of the Coronavirus, which showed that 47% of American families are facing hunger during the COVID-19 pandemic. For vulnerable populations including Black and Latino families, that number is much higher. The study also found that 51% of parents are skipping meals, 66% are making more limited meals, and 39% have had to skip bills like utilities or rent in order to afford food.

School meals will be crucial to ensure these families can continue to feed their kids, but this year they look different than they have in the past as schools continue social distancing practices and remote learning. 

As the pandemic continues and more schools resort to social distancing practices and remote learning to protect against the spread of the virus, solutions are needed to reach the rising number of children who rely on these meals. 

The USDA recently extended all nationwide child nutrition waivers through Dec. 31, 2020, which will make it easier for schools to continue safely feeding children for the first half of the school year. 

TEPSA says that this action doesn’t do enough. Especially for a state as large as Texas, where some school districts have to figure out how to serve tens of thousands of students every day. 

TEPSA urges that the USDA must extend these waivers through the entire 2020-2021 school year.