School districts need flexible funding to stay open and continue providing essential meals to students.
The Center for Ecoliteracy conducted a survey with public school districts to learn about emergency meal service during the COVID-19 pandemic and their priorities for the revised California state budget. School food service directors responded from 25 public school districts that collectively represent over 400,000 students. Here are a few things we learned:
- Emergency meal service is causing significant budget deficits.
- School districts need flexible funding in order to stay open and continue providing essential meals to students.
- Fresh and local food procurement provide opportunities to support local economies during this economic crisis.
To find out more, see the Survey Report: COVID-19 Budget for School Food.