ESCANABA — While summer vacation typically means a three-month getaway from the classroom, local school districts have been keeping up with the demand to keep area children fed throughout their break. Both Escanaba and Gladstone Area Public Schools are hosting their “Meet Up and Eat Up” summer feeding programs, which are available Monday through Thursday to all children 18-years-old and younger.

Meet Up and Eat Up, or the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), was created by the Michigan Department of Education to ensure that children are provided with free and nutritious meals when school is not in session. According to the State of Michigan’s website, SFSP feeds over 500,000 Michigan children every summer, aiding in the larger goal of preventing childhood hunger.

As we enter the second half of the summer recess, Nancy LaFave, director of food services for Escanaba Area Public Schools, commented on the program’s success.

“This summer, I am happy with how it is going. We do struggle a bit with staff, but with the people that are coming in every day they are making it work,” LaFave said. “They go from one building to the next if they have to, and it helps to have people that really want to make sure the children get fed.”

With summer school in session during June, the number of area children seeking lunch was at a high. Gladstone’s food program was feeding 80 to 100 students per week, the numbers slightly decreasing in the month of July. The Escanaba food service program continues to accommodate 250 children on a weekly basis.

While SFSP is completely free, with schools getting 100% reimbursement for all meals made during the summer, assistance for regular food services during the school year are set to take a hit with the end of pandemic-era federal aid. This aid ensured that school meals, specifically breakfast and lunch, were free for all public school students. In reverting back to the pre-pandemic style, known as the National School Lunch Program, eligibility for free or reduced-price lunches will once again depend on family income levels.

“The federal programming and their response to the pandemic was excellent in terms of school meals,” Jay Kulbertis, Gladstone Area Schools superintendent, said. “I think that everyone saw their numbers go up, and that really does help kids start their days off right.”

Administration at Gladstone Area Schools is currently working to develop a method to combat the end to universal free lunch and breakfast. Although they favor a continuation of the pandemic federal aid, current solutions include extending free lunch qualifications to not only the children who financial qualify for it, but also for those who would normally only qualify for a reduced lunch rate. Kulbertis encourages parents to fill out the food service application at the beginning of the school year even if they don’t believe they will qualify for any assistance.

“By this time in August we will have to put a ‘Plan A’ and ‘Plan B’ together depending upon what gets handed down from [the federal government],” Kulbertis said. “We would like to have everyone start their day with a meal and make sure everyone is eating lunch. We will do the best we can to help subsidize that with money that we have in the program.”

The year before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Escanaba School District began to look into the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) for all students K-12. CEP is a free meal service option for school districts in low-income areas. CEP allows schools to serve free breakfast and lunch to all enrolled students, no matter family income levels. Schools that utilize CEP are reimbursed for food spending using a formula based on the number of students who are categorically eligible for free meals.

While Escanaba School District was able to offer the CEP program for students K-8 before the pandemic, they are gearing up to offer it to all students in the upcoming school year.

“[Before COVID], our district didn’t know if food services would cover the whole cost, but it was such a need that the board voted and said they would be doing K-12,” LaFave said. “If they had to chip in a little bit from the general fund, they didn’t mind.”

From a student and family perspective, universal free breakfast and lunch is a guarantee for those in enrolled in the Escanaba school district. On the management side, however, there are still a few unknowns. The district is currently waiting to see what their reimbursement rate will be for the free meals, which is inevitably going to decrease.

“With [CPE] in place, we know we are going to be okay and be able to offer 100 percent free breakfast and lunch to all of our students without question,” Coby Fletcher, Escanaba Area Schools superintendent, said. “It’s just a matter now for us to wait and see what the reimbursement rate is going to be and just refining the budget. We are in a pretty good place.”

In addition to K-12 CPE, Escanaba Area Schools will continue to offer their Breakfast in the Classroom program for every student K-8. This program, which most students take advantage of, was nationally recognized by No Kids Hungry for its great success in past school years.

Another issue facing food service programs in local schools is with supply chains, which are currently combating the rising cost of inflation that the nation is facing. On average, food costs are expected to be up 15% when compared to previous years. Additionally, the cost for paper products, like plates and napkins, are up by nearly 200%.

“Our only struggle really looking in the future here is supply chain issues, and that is an unknown,” LaFave said. “But we do our best to make sure that the kids receiving the meals don’t know that there are any disruptions or issues. There is always a meal there for them.”

Children 18 and younger are encouraged to take advantage of the Meet up and Eat Up programs for the remaining days of summer, with many locations in the local area serving meals Monday through Thursday.

For Escanaba’s program, meals can be obtained at the Upper Elementary School from 11:15 a.m. to 12 p.m., Webster Kindergarten Center from 11 a.m. to 11:45 a.m., Lemmer Elementary from 11 a.m. to 11:45 a.m., Camp Harstad from 11:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., and the YMCA from 11:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. Adults can eat for $3. Escanaba’s Meet Up and Eat Up program will continue to run until Aug. 11.

For Gladstone’s program, children can enjoy a free breakfast or lunch at the Jones Middle School cafeteria. Breakfast is served from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and lunch is from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. You do not need to be enrolled in either school system to obtain a free meal.

“The federal programming has helped a lot of families out regardless of their level of need,” Kulbertis said. “Having that universally available for all of our kids has allowed more kids to eat school lunch regularly.”