Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Anchor Bay board votes to prepare to reinstate meal charges if state funding lapses
Summary
The Anchor Bay School District board approved a resolution to continue paying for student meals through Oct. 31 and to implement meal charges Nov. 1 if the state does not fund the program. Officials said the state portion is about $200,000 per month and that the district can use its food-service fund to cover October costs while seeking MDE clarif
The Anchor Bay School District Board of Education voted on Sept. 24 to continue funding universal student meals through Oct. 31 and to implement meal charges for students who do not automatically qualify for free meals beginning Nov. 1 if the Michigan Legislature does not provide new funding.
The action, approved unanimously by roll call, follows presentations from Assistant Superintendent Todd Rathbun and district finance staff who said the state portion of the current temporary meal funding is worth roughly $200,000 a month to the district.
Rathbun told the board: “The impact ... is roughly about $200,000 a month for breakfast and lunch that the state is paying for.” He said the district is treating guidance from the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) as provisional and is waiting for specific rules about how districts should respond if state funding ends.
Why it matters: Anchor Bay is a Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) district, which allows districts with certain poverty metrics to feed all students without collecting…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
