Eliminating Reduced-Price School Meals: The Vermont Experience

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Eliminating Reduced-Price School Meals:

The Vermont ExperienceDoug Davis, SNSDirector, Burlington School Food ProjectPast President, [email protected]

Anore Horton, MATChild Nutrition Advocacy Manager, Hunger Free VermontChair, Legislation & Policy Committee, [email protected]


What is the Problem with Charging for Reduced-Price School Meals?• Children in this category are likely experiencing

hunger at home• Yet they are least likely to participate in school meals,

even enrolled• Most likely to experience shame in the cafeteria

• In order for their children to eat school meals, families often end up in debt to the meal program


Our Overall Message:Vermont Children are Hungry


Our Overall Message:Vermont Families are Struggling


Our Overall Message:We Know This Works


A Marathon, not a Sprint:VT Reduced-Price Elimination Timeline

• 2007- 2008 (2 legislative sessions)• Hunger Free Vermont pushes legislation to have the State of Vermont

cover the 30₵ student cost of reduced-price breakfast• Partners with SNA-VT to gather testimony & to advocate for the bill

• August 2008: No more reduced-price school breakfast in VT!• 2009 Legislative Session

• Recession-induced budget crisis makes it impossible to go for lunch• Passed a no-cost “Child Omnibus Bill” to keep momentum going (all 21st

Century grant recipients must use CN programs to provide meals; all schools over 50% that run summer school must use SFSP or SSO to provide meals)

• 2010 Legislative Session• Budget crisis continues• Continue no-cost strategy by passing a change in the language of State

law that defines teen parents getting services at Parent-Child Centers as “enrolled students” so that they can receive meals through NSLP


Continued:VT Reduced-Price Elimination Timeline

It took 3 legislative sessions (2011-2013)• 2011 Session: Legislation introduced to have the State of Vermont cover

the 40₵ student cost of reduced-price school lunch—dies in the Education Committees

• 2012 Session: Legislation re-introduced; House Education Committee unanimously supports, but won’t forward to Appropriations because there is no source of funding attached

• 2013 Session: Legislation re-introduced in both House and Senate; Education Committees approve it and send it to Appropriations Committees; Appropriations Committees approve it and send it to the floor, House and Senate both pass the bill!

What changed?The Governor also put the provision in the budget he sent to the legislature

• Legislators would have had to vote to remove funding for hungry children from the budget.


Creating a CoalitionWho were the allies in VT?

– Hunger Free Vermont– SNA-VT– School nutrition professionals – Farm to School movement– Farmers– Professional Organizations (principals, superintendents,

school boards, teachers’ union)– Key legislators on key committees (Ed & Aprops)– Commissioner of Education & CNP staff– Governor’s Policy Advisor…and then the Governor


What are the Politics?Identify & remove any barrier to each ally’s support:• Professional Associations did not want the money to

come out of the education budget when they were already facing multiple years of budget cuts

• Legislators from all political parties wanted assurance of the value of the investment

• Opposing legislators especially responded to evidence that spending this money would lead to savings and growth elsewhere:– Federal money that state money will leverage– Reduce local deficits– Strengthen local agricultural economies


Our Message for Schools


Our Message for Vermont’s Economy

• This bill is good for Vermont farms because additional reimbursement will expand each school’s ability to purchase local Vermont foods for their meal programs

• This bill is good for Town budgets because it will reduce school meal program debts that towns must ultimately repay


Our Message for Opposing Legislators


Successful Strategies Before the Session

• Collect data on the increased participation and revenues realized with the elimination of reduced-price breakfast

• Collect data from districts that had already eliminated reduced-price lunch on their own

• Find champions on key committees & in state agencies; ask them to help you design your strategy—figure out what they need out of this

• Develop evidence-based materials that show what will happen


Successful Strategies: Education Com.

• Small group of students went without breakfast & testified before the Education Committees about their experiences trying to learn (2008)

• Organized SFS Directors to personally contact their legislators

• Collected testimony from SFS Directors and parents from the towns of Committee members

• Support from Agency of Education, NEA, School Boards Association


Sample Testimony


Successful Strategies: Appropriations Com.

• Data-driven arguments• Advocacy day with

allies (every year)• Survey Monkey

petition—signatures organized by Town

• Endorsements from other unions and Vermont businesses—big posters with their logos


Passing the Bill is Just the Beginning:Promote the Change!

• Articles in local papers, school & organization newsletters

• Talking Points—How to explain the change to parents, school boards, principals, etc.

• Promotional materials for schools• Web-ready materials for school websites


Handout to Accompany Application for Families


6 Months Later…

• Statewide, a 6% increase in the enrollment of reduced-price eligible students in school meal programs—with up to a 40% increase in some districts

• Participation increases as high as 79% in some districts

• Elevated SNA-VT to the level of other school-related professional organizations, and laid the foundation for ongoing relationships

Eliminating Reduced-Price School Meals: The Vermont Experience

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