By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
It’s hard for students to learn when their stomachs are running on empty.
So hungry children are not turned away at Bowling Green City School cafeterias – regardless of their ability to pay, and even if their lunch tabs are piling up.
Currently, the school district’s cafeteria payments are about $1,400 in arrears.
But no one, not ever, is turned away in the lunch line, said Tabitha Hiler Young, the district’s food service director.
“We don’t ever want to make a child embarrassed,” she said. “We know the most important thing is to feed the kids so they can focus on learning.”
For the last two years, school lunches were offered at no cost to students in Ohio during the COVID pandemic. That changed this year, when schools had to once again start charging for lunches.
“I think it was a lot of shock” to some families struggling to get by, Hiler Young said.
School lunches remain relatively inexpensive – costing $2.75 in the elementaries, $3.05 at the middle school, and $3.50 at the high school. But those lunch tabs can quickly add up for families.
Lunches include a grain, meat or meat alternative, two vegetables or two fruits and milk. Schools also serve up hot breakfasts that also include fruit and milk.
“I know other districts are hurting as well,” Hiler Young said. “Parents are trying to feed their children and also trying to pay their bills at home.”
Parents are encouraged to apply for free or reduced lunches through the National School Lunch Program. But oftentimes financially struggling families don’t make the cut.
“Those don’t always tell the whole story,” Hiler Young said of the criteria for qualifying for meals.
Some families don’t like the idea of asking for help, she explained.
“People struggle with pride,” Hiler Young said. “We try to handle it in a delicate manner. We handle everything discreetly, and everything is confidential.”
Some children can also qualify for weekend food boxes.
“Some of these kids don’t have a food source at home,” Hiler Young said.
Nearly every month, the BG Board of Education receives donations from community members to help pay to feed hungry students.
Local residents or businesses that want to help erase the lunch bills, or help pay ahead for families in need, may send checks to Bowling Green City School District, 137 Clough St., Bowling Green 43402. Donors may designate the contributions to go toward a specific school building. Donors may ask to remain anonymous if they wish.
