The following is a letter Monroe public schools sent out to families about the school lunch program:
Dear Parents/Guardians,
Please read this letter in full due to significant changes to the Monroe School lunch program.
For the remainder of the 2021 school year, all lunches for students in Kindergarten through grade 8 will be provided at no cost. For the duration of the hybrid instructional model, students in grades 9-12, while learning remotely, will be provided with lunch at no cost.
Beginning Tuesday, January 12, 2021, ALL Cohort A students will be given lunch for the days they will not be in school as their cohort departs at the end of the school day. For example, on Tuesday, January 12th, ALL students in Cohort A will be given lunch for Wednesday-Friday as they depart school. There will be no charge for the meals.
This process continues in a similar manner on Fridays for students in Cohort B. They will be given lunch for the days they will not be in school for the coming week (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday) as their cohort departs at the end of the school day on Fridays. Moving forward, students who attend school in-person will no longer need to order lunch online.
Please note, due to the volume of meals required, we are unable to individualize meals for any reason (i.e. food allergies or dietary restrictions). If you wish to opt out of our new “no cost” lunch distribution program please click here.
For the coming week, students in Cohort B in grades K-12 may order lunch for Monday-Wednesday, January 11-13, using the order form at the following link, click here for order form. All orders must be received by 12pm on Saturday, January 9, 2021. Lunches must be picked up at Fawn Hollow Elementary School from 7:15 am to 8:15 am on Monday.
Fully remote students will continue to have the opportunity to order and pick-up lunches at Fawn Hollow on Mondays and Thursdays using the order form at the following link, click here for order form.
Providing meals to all students is advantageous to the school district and our food service provider as the National School Lunch Program is subsidizing the cost and reimbursing the school and food service provider thus diminishing the cost of cafeteria operations to the school district.
Lunch Menu K-12
The menu for each day can be found by clicking this link, https://monroeps.nutrislice.com/
For questions regarding lunches, please email John Hoyt, ([email protected]) General Manager-Food Service.
If I understand the “significant” changes as outlined, lunch will be provided to families who have not requested it because costs can be transferred from our budget to the federal government’s. I seem to remember an article that pushed this very same idea a month ago but it must have not been accepted by the vast majority of Monroe parents or at least not to the satisfaction of the powers that be. To families in town who use the program because of need or convenience, please do so. We should all as residents of this town work to ensure no child is going hungry. However, handing out lunches to families who haven’t ask for it will promote food waste. Food waste at this time when many are going hungry is criminal. I understand many will say you can opt out if you don’t want to participate. I would counter that those families who want to participate can opt in and should. Pushing an automatic opt is in the vein of auto enrollment in your retirement plan at work, some people will do nothing and will just throw out the lunch when their kids don’t want it. Maybe I’m over reading the change in policy and there were good intentions behind it. LOL. However, I fear that the main driver is money not families. I would hope that our school system would reinforce being great stewards of the world not working gimmicks to get others to pay for it. Just the view of one Monroe parent for all its worth.
I totally agree with your comment. Promoting food waste is unimaginable. Is there no way the food that parents don’t want can be delivered to seniors or others in need. This entire concept defies common sense.