Talking Points for Budget Advocacy 2014

Introduction:

Begin the meeting by introducing yourself and explaining the basics of how the school meal program works. It is important to connect with your Assemblymember and Senator by providing insight into how you are serving his or her constituents. (If you already have a relationship with your legislator and they are aware of how the program works you can move into the substance of the meeting).

You might ask the legislator or staff “Are you aware of the recent federal changes to National School Breakfast and Lunch programs?” The answer to this question will help frame the rest of the meeting.

Background:

Provide a brief overview of the changes to the school breakfast and lunch programs and how those changes have impacted your program. Describe examples of how the changes have impacted the financial viability of your program.

Issue #1: Increase Funding for the School Breakfast and Lunch Program

Message:

School food programs in New York State have been run as market driven, nonprofit operations, with some reimbursement from federal and state sources, and 90% of the time with no financial support from local districts. This income must cover all costs; food, supplies, labor, and fringe benefits. Student participation in the meal program is critical, especially when foodservice programs are expected to break even financially.

Although New York State supports school food service programs, the current reimbursement is at less than 6 cents per lunch served. This level of support has remained static for at least the past 40 years and no longer provides meaningful assistance to the food service directors’ ability to provide well-balanced nutritious meals at affordable prices. Data from the Consumer Price Index, used to calculate the average increase in cost of living shows the annual rate to be 3.91% each year. Had New York State provided a 3.91 percent cost of living adjustment on an annual basis to the school meal program over the past 40 years the reimbursement level today would be 26 cents per meal.

In December 2010 the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) became law. This federal legislation has dramatically impacted the NSL/SBP meal program.

  • New meal pattern requirements for lunch were implemented in the 2012-13 school year and breakfast guidelines were implemented in 2013-14 school year. Guidelines for competitive foods sold in schools, also known as a la carte items, are in the process of being finalized and will likely have a significant impact on the programs.
  • Programs must offer additional fresh fruits and vegetables, increase the percentage of whole grains in the meals and completely overhaul the menus for all meals to meet specific caloric and nutrient requirements.
  • The expense of meeting such requirements is straining already lean school meal budgets. The costs of fruits, vegetables and whole grains are significant and the need for additional labor to process and prepare the fresh foods is an unsustainable expense for many meal programs.
  • New York State has experienced a significant drop off in the number of students participating in the school breakfast and lunch program since the implementation of new meal standards under the HHFKA. In the 2012-13 school year, the number of paid meals served dropped by 19,086,478.
  • The loss of paid meals is a five percent drop from the previous year and a loss of $6,489,402 dollars in federal funding to New York. According to a recent NYSNA survey of its membership, the loss of revenue has resulted in operating deficits for 55 percent of programs. Others are seriously depleting fund balances.
  • The new meal requirements that have been implemented under the HHFKA have caused a serious strain on the finances of school meal programs around the state. This is largely in part because the new regulations were not phased in over time. Instead, the radical changes to the meal patterns were imposed all at once and students reacted by opting out of the program.
  • Many small to mid-size districts with a lower percentage of free and reduced students have been hit particularly hard by the loss in participation. For example: there are 99 schools in New York that have fewer than 10% of their student body qualifying as free and reduced eligible. These schools are particularly at risk for financial difficulties as a result of loss of participation.
  • Should districts decide that they can no longer afford to continue to provide these programs to children, the results would be significant. There is no state or federal requirement for schools to participate in the school lunch program. The intent of the NSL/SBP is to offer free and reduced meals to children, based on their families’ income, as well as full priced meals to any student. There is a very real risk that children who qualify for free and reduced meals will go hungry if the school district no longer participating in the NSL/SBP decides it cannot afford to pay for these students to continue to receive meals at school.
  • There is often a stigma attached to accessing free meals, which prevents some students from eating the meals for which they qualify. Under the NSL/SBP there are protections in place to reduce stigma for children qualifying for free and reduced meals. For schools that have dropped out of the program, there is a significant risk that children who qualify for free and reduced meals will be ostracized. If these vulnerable schools opt out of the program over 40,200 students will be at risk of losing access to free or reduced meals.

In order to sustain these programs while students adapt to the new meals, NYSNA is asking New York State to invest an additional 20 cents per meal in this critical program. This funding would bring the state reimbursement to the level it would have been had there been 3.91 percent cost of living adjustment over the past 40 years.

Having additional resources to offset labor costs would provide programs with the resources they need to meet the new requirements under HHFKA. Increased funding will allow for more creative menu development in order to attract students back into the program. Most importantly, increased funding will ease the pain of the immediate implementation of the HHFKA and give the districts the benefit of more time to work through the problems with implementation without the fear of financial catastrophe hanging over every program.

The Ask:

Ask your legislator to advocate for increased funding of 20 cents per meal for the breakfast and lunch program in the upcoming budget. Ask legislators if they would be willing to make a phone call or write a letter in support of increased funding for school breakfast and lunch in the 2014 state budget to Governor Cuomo, Division of Budget Director Robert Megna, Deputy Secretary for EducationDeShawn Wrightand to State Education Commissioner King.

Conclusion: Thank the legislator or staff member for their time. Let them know that you will be following up with them about the request made today. Ask them to useyou as a resource for questions or concerns about the school meal program.

If legislators have questions regarding supporting increased funding for school meal program he or she should contact the NYSNA’s representative in Albany, Laura Darman at Malkin & Ross (518-449-3359).

Don’t Forget the Basics

Do

Know your legislators

Have a strategy for the meeting – “the ask”

Be brief, persuasive, focused, and clear

Be conciliatory even if you don’t agree

Follow up with a note or a phone call to the legislator’s office

Don’t

Let the policy maker get off topic

Make up answers to questions

Be upset if you meet with staff and not the legislator