Op-Ed: School Meal Accessibility for All

Dear City of Norwalk Leaders, 

I am extremely upset by the decision to un-enroll Norwalk Public Schools from the Community Eligibility Provision and to no longer provide free breakfast and lunch for all school students. I can't believe there isn't a way to come up with the $650,000* necessary to continue Norwalk Schools' participation in this important program. 

Not only are we living in a period of extreme national financial uncertainty, with rising prices, inflation, and excessive tariffs, there is also the upsetting federal boost to ICE's budget and powers. I honestly couldn't think of a worse time to cut this program. Will struggling parents have the time and resources to even fill out the Free & Reduced meals application? Will immigrant families be so afraid of providing their personal details to the government that they will avoid filling out the application at all? I should also add that given the extremely high cost of living in the Fairfield County area, there are many families who may not qualify for Free & Reduced Lunch, but are still struggling to get by ("ALICE"-- Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed-- households that earn above the Federal Poverty Level, but still struggle to afford the basic needs of housing, food, transportation, child care, and health care). 

Families that do not qualify for free and reduced lunch are now taking an unexpected and unbudgeted-for financial hit of approximately $700 per year per child in order to have them purchase lunch at school (that figure is just for lunch-- I have not even included breakfast in this calculation). So, for our family that is over $2,000 in added expenses for this school year that we had not previously planned for. School lunch money is now required to be reloaded via My School Bucks, and a $3.50 "program fee" is charged each time money is added to a lunch account. This unfairly affects parents that may be struggling with money and can only add small amounts at a time. I should also mention that My School Bucks was just involved in a class action lawsuit over their predatory fees, and settled for $18 million while denying any wrongdoing (and continuing to charge program fees). Packing lunches at home is not only more expensive than what the schools can provide with their bulk purchasing powers, but cumbersome, and grocery prices are rising with each passing week. 

As a NPS mom and lifelong Norwalk resident, I implore you to reconsider this decision. Our kids deserve better than this. No child should have to go through the school day hungry. 

Thank you for your time. 

-Vicky Livoti

Editor's note: the figure $650,000 was changed from $500,000 based on updated information provided by Councilwoman Nora Niedzielski-Eichner.