FROM PAGE ONE
Thursday, May 5, 2022
ThE OBsErVEr — A7
LUNCHES
2022-23 CITY
BUDGET PROPOSALS
Continued from Page A1
City manager proposals
for Urban Renewal Agency
budget
General fund: $1.99 million
Debt fund: $2.3 million
City manager proposals for
city budget
Police department: $3.75
million
Fire/EMS department: $3.41
million
Parks: $512,223
Street fund: $2.1 million
Total city budget: $63.2 million
CITY
Continued from Page A1
department-requested
total of $2,101,598, with
the city manager’s pro-
posed total at $1,991,290.
The La Grande Urban
Renewal Agency’s call for
projects section includes
$81,242 carried over from
prior years, related to proj-
ects at Travelodge, The
Local and Steve’s Outdoor
Adventures.
The city’s proposed
general fund outlay totals
just over $800,000, an
increase from approxi-
mately $400,000 in the last
fiscal year — the new total
includes transfers from the
general reserve and car-
ried-over funds for vehicle
purchases. The proposal
includes a software update in
the municipal court system,
two new police patrols cars,
a code enforcement vehicle,
a new ambulance and a
new vehicle for the parks
department.
The city’s sewer reserve
fund includes a requested
and proposed total of $5.76
million, with project pro-
posals aimed at improving
the overall wastewater treat-
ment process. This year’s
proposed total is a slight
increase from last year’s
fiscal year sewer reserve
total of $5.21 million
The city’s street fund
includes a proposed
, MBA
$2,116,418 — the budget lists
numerous objectives, with
the overall goal of improving
the city’s sidewalk, street and
road infrastructure.
Following the budget
hearings, the final stamp of
approval comes from the city
council in June.
advantage of the free and
reduced price lunch option,
the same one in place long
before COVID-19 hit. The
reason is families have to
fill out applications for free
and reduced cost lunches,
which require them to
reveal their household
income.
Some families will not
apply because they do not
want others to know their
economic status, Hislop
said. This is unfortunate
since there is no reason to
be concerned about private
information getting out,
the superintendent said.
He explained that only
one person, a school dis-
trict employee, ever sees
the Imbler applications and
the names of applicants are
never shared with anyone.
Income data is sent to the
federal government but not
the names of the families it
applies to.
“My concern is that we
will have kids who qualify
but because their parents
are reluctant to apply the
children will go hungry,”
Hislop said.
Union School District
Superintendent Carter
Wells agrees that it is hard
to get some families to fill
out applications for free
and reduced price lunches
for their children.
“People are very
prideful and there is some
delicate information they
are asked,” Wells said.
The Union superinten-
dent said he tries to tact-
fully get families to com-
plete the applications.
“I encourage them to
step out of their comfort
zone and fill them out,” he
said.
Nutritious meals fuel
learning
Wells said it is critical
that students eat nutritious
meals when they are in
school.
“A student who is
hungry cannot focus on
what is being presented in
the classroom,” Wells said.
He said if students are
for some reason not able to
buy school lunch or bring
The Observer, File
Kristi Ritchie, right, head cook with La Grande High School, hands out lunches on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2021. School meals were free for all
students during the pandemic, but the federal universal free meals program expires in June 2022.
their lunches to school
after this academic year,
the Union School District’s
staff will step forward to
assist.
“We will do everything
we can to get properly
cooked meals in front of
students,” Wells said.
Helping school
districts get funding
Families who submit
completed applications
for free and reduced price
lunches and breakfasts are
helping not only their chil-
dren but also their school
districts.
Hislop explained that
the amount of federal
money school districts are
eligible to receive for aca-
demic programs is deter-
mined in part by the per-
centage of students who are
from families that qualify
for free and reduced price
lunches.
Lunches will stay free
in La Grande School
District
The looming expira-
tion of the universal free
lunch program will have no
impact on the La Grande
School District where free
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lunches and breakfasts will
continue to be available
to all students, according
to Michelle Glover, the
La Grande School Dis-
trict’s budget director. The
reason, she said, is that the
school district is part of
the Community Eligibility
Provision program and will
remain so at least through
the 2024-25 school year.
The Community Eligi-
bility Provision is a non-
pricing meal service option
for schools and school dis-
tricts in low-income areas.
CEP allows schools and
districts to serve break-
fast and lunch at no cost
to all enrolled students
without collecting house-
hold applications, Glover
said. Instead, schools that
adopt CEP are reimbursed
using a formula supported
by the percentage of stu-
dents eligible for free meals
based on their participation
in other specific means-
tested programs, such as
the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program and
Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families, according
to Glover.
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Cove School District
Superintendent Earl Pettit
said that there may be a
small drop in the number
of students eating meals
served by his school dis-
trict. However, he also
thinks the number of stu-
dents eating school lunches
may be higher than before
the pandemic. Pettit
explained this may occur
because a number of stu-
dents who had brought
sack lunches to school
before the pandemic began
eating the free midday
meals served at school after
the pandemic began.
“They started eating
lunch at school and liked
it. It was a culture change.
They got used to it after
packing lunches to school,”
Pettit said.
The Cove superinten-
dent is glad the federal
government provided free
school lunches to students
because it reduced the red
tape they had to deal with
during the pandemic.
“It was a good deci-
sion,” Pettit said.
Mark Mulvihill, super-
intendent of the InterMoun-
tain Education Service Dis-
trict, which serves Union,
Umatilla and Morrow
counties, also said the gov-
ernment’s decision to pro-
vide free meals during the
pandemic was a big plus.
“It was a key part of
the COVID-19 recovery,”
Muvihill said. “It stabilized
families.”
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