BUHLER, Kan. — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly sent a letter to Washington urging Congressional leadership to extend federal Child Nutrition Waivers to allow for free summer lunches everywhere. If they were extended, it would mean decisions for one Reno County school district.
"We were able to serve in the past two years under a waiver from the federal government that waived the qualification of low income guidelines in your community to qualify for the free lunch program," said Buhler USD 313 Superintendent Cindy Couchman. "This year, because that waiver was lifted, we did not offer free lunches during the summer program. We have encouraged our community to seek out those lunches through the Hutchinson school district or Nickerson, other areas in Reno County that do qualify."
It might be too late from a logistical perspective, even if Congress can get something done.
"It would be hard for us to turn around right now and start a summer lunch program," Couchman said. "We don't have food ordered, and, as you know, sometimes there's a little bit of wait on that. We'd have to get our personnel, see who could work during the summer months. We'd have to have cooks ready to go and obviously, supplies. It is a little late. To serve the needs of our students, we would gather and discuss it and evaluate it very closely. We do want to serve our families and make things easier on them. If that gets approved, we would immediately meet and see what we could get together, maybe for the month of July."
Couchman said there were kids eating the last couple of years, though she didn't have the specific numbers in front of her.
"We were serving quite a few community members," Couchman said. "Some of them were Buhler students and some of them were not. That's what's wonderful about the free lunch summer program is, when you go through the line, they don't ask you which school district you're a member of. I think a lot of people use different sites during that summer month."
The closest site in Hutchinson to the USD 308 and 313 boundary is at the Fairgrounds splash park. It serves from 11:15 a.m. until 12:15 p.m.