COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio lawmakers are deciding how to spend billions of taxpayer dollars on the state’s two-year operating budget. Among these decisions is whether all students should receive free school breakfasts and lunches.
“We have seen time and time again why that makes for better outcomes for kids [by] just making sure that they have those meals at school,” Ohio Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) said. “Providing it universally, there is no stigma attached to who gets a meal and who does not. It is just that all of the kids in that classroom are the same.
“There are real concerns when these school lunch proposals talk about paying for the richest 1% — [they] would still be eligible for a free lunch,” Ohio House Finance Chair Representative Brian Stewart (R-Ashville) stated. “I do not think that sits real well with some folks like myself.”
Currently, the state operating budget proposed by Governor Mike DeWine requires schools to participate in a federal school meal program in order to receive the maximum amount of federal funding available, but it does not universally fund these programs. Advocates said the state should do its part and intervene.
When asked if he supports the program, Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima) responded, “The answer is no.”
“Many parents do not want to have their children eating the breakfast that is at school, that is one,” he told me. “Two, many parents can afford to pay for their breakfast.”
Huffman added that there is “a ton of waste in this program,” because all of the food must be distributed.
“If we are going to say, ‘Buy it all for everybody whether they want it or not, need it or not, are going to use it or not,’ that is when you end up having a lot of waste,” said Mr. Johnson.
The state’s universal free lunch and breakfast program is estimated to cost Ohio $300 million each year. Breakfast alone would cost $50 million.
Republican leaders are not pleased with the price tag.
“They are really expensive asks,” Stewart said. “So if we cut 10 other things and made deep cuts elsewhere, you can afford to do a lot.”
“We should be able to afford it.” These are our children; they are our future. “I can not think of anything more important than ensuring our children’s success,” Antonio said.
However, high school students, such as Corbin Eaton, a junior at Antwerp High School in Northwest Ohio, believe the argument for fully funding school breakfast and lunch is straightforward.
“No student should have to think about when or where their next meal should be,” says Eaton.
Eaton stated that at the end of last school year, he and his siblings were no longer eligible for free meals because his mother returned to work. However, unexpected challenges arose when his mother was hospitalized.
“In the fall of last year, she started having serious health issues that required three surgeries in less than a week and she was in the hospital for close to a month,” according to him.
Even after his mother returned to work, money was tight, and her hospitalization exacerbated the situation.
“I mean, grocery shop here and there but not frequently like we should,” Eaton said.
He said if his family still qualified for free meals, it would have been a weight off his, his younger siblings’ and his parents’ shoulders during that hard time. Instead, Eaton said, at times, he had to struggle through classes in the morning before he was able to get lunch in the afternoon.
“I still have that trouble,” he said. “I’m just one to usually just eat lunch at school. That helps me perform academically better in the afternoon.”
Eaton said even though he is graduating in a year, he hopes something gets done. Even if it goes into effect once he is out of high school, it will help his younger siblings.
The state budget, where this funding would end up if lawmakers decide to add it, is getting worked on right now. It will likely pass at the end of June.
