House Ed & Workforce subcommittee holds school meals hearing
June 25, 2015 |10:16 AM
The House Education and the Workforce Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee held a hearing Wednesday entitled “Child Nutrition Assistance: Looking at the Cost of Compliance for States and Schools.”
Rep. Todd Rokita, R-Ind., the subcommittee chairman, said in an opening statement that “From firsthand experience, I can verify that despite the increased federal involvement in the school meals programs, many students are still going to class hungry.”
“Furthermore, reports from the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office raise concerns about whether or not the resources for these programs are going to the students who need it most,” Rokita said.
“If our shared goal is to increase student success in the classroom, and if we know that nutritious meals play an important role in that success, wasting limited taxpayer dollars hardly seems like a favorable outcome.”
The subcommittee heard testimony from a series of school administrators.
Three witnesses complained about the school meals rules, but Donna Martin of the Burke County, Ga., schools said she has been able to make the rules work.
Of the frequent comments that football players are hungry under the new rules, Martin said, “The notion that high school athletes only started to get hungry after updated nutrition standards went into effect in 2012 is false. They were hungry because they did not have access to food after school — and that was the case before and after the standards.”
“When our high school football coach came to me with concerns about his players not getting the fuel they need to be successful, we worked together to provide dinner after practices to make sure that they were nourished,” she said.
“As a registered dietitian, it brought me great joy to know that they weren’t just filling up on empty calories, but nutritious foods that were good for them. I also think it’s important to note that we started this program in 2010.”
Rep. Todd Rokita, R-Ind., the subcommittee chairman, said in an opening statement that “From firsthand experience, I can verify that despite the increased federal involvement in the school meals programs, many students are still going to class hungry.”
“Furthermore, reports from the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office raise concerns about whether or not the resources for these programs are going to the students who need it most,” Rokita said.
“If our shared goal is to increase student success in the classroom, and if we know that nutritious meals play an important role in that success, wasting limited taxpayer dollars hardly seems like a favorable outcome.”
The subcommittee heard testimony from a series of school administrators.
Three witnesses complained about the school meals rules, but Donna Martin of the Burke County, Ga., schools said she has been able to make the rules work.
Of the frequent comments that football players are hungry under the new rules, Martin said, “The notion that high school athletes only started to get hungry after updated nutrition standards went into effect in 2012 is false. They were hungry because they did not have access to food after school — and that was the case before and after the standards.”
“When our high school football coach came to me with concerns about his players not getting the fuel they need to be successful, we worked together to provide dinner after practices to make sure that they were nourished,” she said.
“As a registered dietitian, it brought me great joy to know that they weren’t just filling up on empty calories, but nutritious foods that were good for them. I also think it’s important to note that we started this program in 2010.”
