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Ms. ADAMS. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding and her great work.
Madam Speaker, I rise today to address the hunger crisis in our communities and in our schools.
Millions of children will go hungry on June 30, just 2 weeks from now, if we fail to act. Let me say that again for anyone who may not have heard me. Millions of children will go hungry on June 30 if we do not act.
Madam Speaker, I include in the Record an article from the Charlotte Observer outlining how the children in my district will be affected.
No More Free Lunch for Some CMS Students Starting Next Year (By Anna Maria Della Costa)
A program that has provided free meals to K-12 students in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will stop at the end of this school year.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's universally free school meals arose out of pandemic-era waivers that allowed all K-12 students to get school breakfast and lunch at no cost regardless of their family's income beginning in March 2020. Those waivers are set to expire June 30, despite school nutrition advocates urging Congress for an extension in the federal 2022 spending bill.
School meal programs will return to pre-pandemic procedures for the 2022-23 school year, which means free breakfast continues and lunch may not.
``I just want to remind everybody. it's the U.S. Department of Agriculture that this falls under, this is not the CMS Board of Education trying to give everybody a tough time on free and reduced lunch,'' Interim Superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh said during the board's meeting Tuesday. ``We were hopeful that maybe the bill that was set forward would be approved, but it was not extended out.'' IN CMS, BREAKFAST WILL STILL BE FREE FOR ALL STUDENTS
Cassie Fambro, a media relations specialist with CMS, told the Observer that breakfast will continue to be provided in all of the district's schools at no charge for the 2022-23 school year. For each of CMS' summer camps and programs, free breakfast and lunch also will be provided.
CMS will not raise lunch meal prices for 2022-23, keeping them at pre-pandemic rates for students. For pre-K students, the lunch meal price is $2.50; K-8 students pay $2.75 and 9- 12 students pay $3. The reduced price lunch meal is 40 cents. PARENTS: FILL OUT THE PAPERWORK
Students attending some CMS schools will have to qualify for free or reduced-price lunch through direct certification, which could include families receiving food stamps, students who are homeless or foster children. Students can also receive free meals from an approved free or reduced-price meal benefit application.
Students not approved for free lunch will need to have cash or money on account to pay for lunch. Fambro said.
Applications will be available online or on paper beginning August 1.
``We're not going to let any child walk away without a meal.'' Hattabaugh said. ``We need help from parents and the community to assist everybody.''
Board member Margaret Marshall said it's concerning that the waiver is not going to be extended.
``We're going to have a lot of families who if they don't qualify and fill out paperwork are going to have some problems with food this year,'' Marshall said. ``Make sure families fill out the paperwork so we can have the funds to feed those students and they won't rack up meal debt which has to come due at some point. This is really important.'' 68 CMS SCHOOLS NOT AFFECTED
CMS has 68 schools that fall into the Community Eligibility Provision, an option for schools and districts in low-income areas. The program allows schools to serve meals at no charge to all enrolled students, and families do not have to fill out an application.
Hattabaugh said these schools will not be affected by the change in meal service.
``They will still have what they had during the pandemic.'' he said.
The following CMS schools are in the Community Eligibility Provision:
Albemarle Road Elementary, Albemarle Road Middle, Allenbrook Elementary, Ashley Park (K-8), Charles Parker Academic Center, Berryhill School, Briarwood Elementary, Bruns Avenue Elementary, Walter G. Byers School, Charlotte East Language Academy, Cochrane Collegiate Academy, Coulwood STEM Academy, David Cox Road Elementary, Devonshire Elementary, Druid Hills Academy, Eastway Middle, First Ward Creative Arts Academy, Garinger High, Greenway Park Elementary, Joseph W. Grier Academy, J.H. Gunn Elementary, Harding University High, Hickory Grove Elementary, Hidden Valley Elementary, Highland Renaissance Academy, Hornets Nest Elementary.
Idlewild Elementary, Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle, Lawrence Orr Elementary, Lebanon Road Elementary, Charlotte Mecklenburg Academy, Marie G. Davis (K-8), James Martin Middle, McClintock Middle, Merry Oaks International Academy, Montclaire Elementary, Nations Ford Elementary, Newell Elementary, Oakdale Elementary, Oakhurst STEAM Elementary, Paw Creek Elementary, Pinewood Elementary, Piney Grove Elementary, Rama Road Elementary.
Ranson Middle, Reid Park Academy, Renaissance West STEAM Academy, Sedgefield Middle, Shamrock Gardens Elementary, Statesville Road Elementary, Sterling Elementary, Stoney Creek Elementary, Thomasboro Academy, Tuckaseegee Elementary, Turning Point Academy, University Meadows Elementary, University Park Creative Arts Elementary, Julius L. Chambers High, Villa Heights Elementary, West Charlotte High, West Mecklenburg High, Westerly Hills Academy, Whitewater Academy, Whitewater Middle, Wilson STEM Academy, Winding Springs Elementary, Windsor Park Elementary, Winterfield Elementary.
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Ms. ADAMS. Madam Speaker, at the beginning of the pandemic, this body authorized waivers to help make it easier for schools to offer meals to kids, and we gave access to healthy, nutritious foods to 10 million more school-age children because finding reliable food sources became a problem.
In case my Republican friends need a reminder, President Trump signed that legislation into law. Even as the pandemic continues and food prices are on the rise, these waivers are set to expire at the end of the month.
As a 40-year educator, I know that hunger has been a crisis in our schools and our communities since long before the pandemic. That is also why when I came to Congress, I founded the Adams Hunger Initiative to help coordinate the response to the hunger crisis in my community, and why hunger has been one of my top priority issues in Congress.
In my home State of North Carolina, food insecurity has been a tragic fact of life for our kids and our students. In fact, I just heard from members of the North Carolina PTA today about their ever-present concerns about food insecurity and how it will impact our students.
In 2018, 441,000 North Carolina children participated in SNAP, and 207,351 residents participated in the Women, Infants, and Children program, or WIC. In 2019, 92,010 students participated in the summer food service program. Almost 100,000 students needed help from their school, so they didn't go hungry--again, that was before the pandemic.
In Charlotte, the hunger crisis led at least 24 elementary, middle, and high schools in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District to open food pantries to serve students in need during summer breaks and the vacation.
For example, at Windsor Park Elementary in east Charlotte, members of the Windsor Park Neighborhood Association donated food to keep the shelves stocked for scores of food-insecure and housing-insecure children.
In west Charlotte, University Park Creative Arts School is restocked on a regular basis by Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, and thanks to local donors it has a refrigerator and a large freezer to offer diverse options for students and families. The need is real, and it is staring us in the face.
It is also important to note that these two schools, along with 66 other local schools that will fall into the Community Eligibility Provision, will still be able to offer meals and food to students at the same levels of service as the past 2 years.
However, approximately 114 of our district's schools are not eligible for that provision, meaning that access to summer nutrition will become a patchwork. When students return at the end of the summer, fewer students will get the meals that they need.
Our choice is clear: we can choose to act, or we can let millions of children go hungry. As always, I am standing with our students.
Madam Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Omar and the Congressional Progressive Caucus for hosting this important Special Order hour tonight.
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