Nourish to flourish

To the Editor:

All three Forest County school districts currently offer no-cost breakfast and lunch to all students. The program that provides this service is called the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). Crandon, Laona, and the Wabeno area school districts are eligible for this program because they are deemed high-poverty school districts.

Due to the reconciliation of the federal budget, Congress is considering raising the eligibility threshold for CEP from 25 percent to 60 percent. If this change occurs, 107,541 K-12 Wisconsin students, including Forest County students, will lose access to school meals.

Instead of waiting for this to happen, Wisconsin can expand this service to all students. We’ve seen the positive impact of universal meals, especially during the pandemic, when all students received meals through federal waivers. That waiver expired in 2022, but the need hasn’t.

Governor Tony Evers has once again proposed providing no-cost school meals for all K-12 students in Wisconsin as part of his 2025–27 state budget. The Joint Committee on Finance, the legislative body responsible for shaping the final budget, is currently holding public hearings on the budget across the state.

This marks the second time Governor Evers has included universal school meals in his budget proposal — the first was during the 2023–25 cycle. However, the Joint Finance Committee removed the proposal before approving the final version of that budget.

As Laona’s middle/high school principal and crandon’s incoming Superintendent, I witness daily how vital food access is to student success. One in six Wisconsin children is food insecure, which means they lack reliable access to a sufficient amount of food. No-cost meals reduce hunger, remove stigma, and improve health by increasing access to nutritious foods.

Critics call it expensive, but it’s far more affordable for taxpayers ($60/year) than what families currently pay ($760/year per child). The Legislative Reference Bureau calculated the estimated average annual cost per taxpayer to be ~$60/year.

Our Michigan and Minnesota neighbors passed free Healthy School Meals for All policies. Let’s do the same for Wisconsin.

Join me and Healthy School Meals for All Wisconsin. Let’s ensure every student can focus on learning, not their next meal. 

Jason Bertrand, middle/high school principal, Laona School District