Resident urges protection of school meal funding; district reports summer-meal participation rose year over year

Sarah Duffy, a community member, addressed the board during public comment and urged residents and parents to contact U.S. Rep. Erin Houchin and U.S. Senators J.D. Vance and Todd Young to protect federal funding for school meal programs. "Our kids really need those free, healthy, and tasty meals," she said, asking the community to advocate against federal cuts.

In the superintendent’s report and a later finance update, district staff noted the summer meal program had a successful start: for a little over a week of operation districtwide, staff reported serving 2,930 students during the period compared with 2,746 students in the same span in 2024 — an increase of about 200 students. Staff confirmed five serving sites this year: Andersonville, LES, Mount Carmel, FCHS and Cedar Grove; meals are available for students 18 and under via drive-through pickup. District staff said some mobile service used in past years was not offered this year.

Why it matters: federal funding changes to school nutrition programs would affect district meal operations and families who rely on those services. Board members and staff said they have not received definitive state or federal notice of cuts and that, as of the meeting, programs were operating as in prior years. Staff said they would notify families promptly if anything changed.

Discussion and follow-up: board members asked for participation counts; staff said they would compile and share more complete numbers after the program’s early days. The district will continue outreach and communication about meal sites and availability.

Note on attribution: the public-comment quote above is drawn verbatim from the meeting transcript and is attributed to the speaker who signed up to speak.