Opting out of National School Lunch Program to cost Penn-Trafford SD $100K in federal aid

WESTMORELAND COUNTY, Pa. — The Penn-Trafford School District in Harrison City has initiated a plan to get students back in the lunch line after seeing a decrease in sales since the first lady and Congress ushered in the National School Lunch Program six years ago.

“Every day, I see all these fruits and vegetables go right into the trash can,” Penn-Trafford High School senior Noah Babik said.

Babik and fellow senior Emily Graziano told Channel 11 News that they avoided school lunches for the past four years, and they’re not alone.

Brett Lago, the district’s director of business affairs, said 25 percent of the high school’s students currently buy lunch, and pounds of food are being wasted.

“We're losing about $20,000 a year,” Lago said.

Lago and district officials blame the loss on the National School Lunch Program.

For years, the program has reimbursed schools for free and discounted meals for low-income students. That changed in 2010 when Congress adopted first lady Michelle Obama’s Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. The act mandated that if schools wanted to be reimbursed, they must follow strict, dietary guidelines.

“Unfortunately, if I buy lunch and don't like broccoli, and that broccoli is going straight into the garbage, but I have to take it. They have to serve it to me in order to be reimbursed,” Lago said.

District leaders decided to regain its “food freedom” and opted out of the National School Lunch Program, costing the district about $100,000 a year in federal aid.

“If we can get our participation up from 25 percent to 50 percent, we think that should offset the loss of those federal funds,” Lago said.

The school district is also banking on its new, $1 million high school cafeteria that will operate more like a mall food court and can now be filled with student-friendly choices.

“It’s not like we're going to go crazy and start selling a triple-cheeseburger,” Lago said. “It's up to the kids to make the right choices.”

Lago said he hopes Congress will eventually see it that way, too.

“I don’t think the federal government should necessarily be taking the lead in trying to dictate that every district and every kid eats the same,” he said.

Congress is currently debating the reauthorization of the dietary guidelines. Critics are urging lawmakers to ease some of the restrictions so schools can make the meals more appealing to students of all ages.

Cox Media Group