Westfield Washington Schools was able to erase the lunch debt for more than 1,400 students, thanks to grant funds from the Arby’s Foundation and local donations.
Ashley Knott, executive Director of the Westfield Education Foundation and the director of Community Engagement for WWS, said the district applied for the one-time grant from Arby’s in November 2023, focusing on addressing food insecurity.
When the district applied for the grant, the districtwide lunch debt was $59,701. But when the district was awarded the funds in January, student lunch debt had increased to more than $80,000.
“We wanted to make sure that we were being very purposeful and supportive of students in how we awarded those dollars back out to address food insecurity, to support families,” Knott said. “We started first with our free and reduced lunch families, removing 100 percent of their debt.”
Knott said the district took the remaining balance of districtwide lunch debt and worked with the WWS Big Hearts fund, a program within the education foundation, to utilize an additional $10,000 from that fund. That money, plus a private donation, meant the district was able to raise thousands in additional funds and pay off $71,202 in debt.
Knott said the focus now is making sure parents have the tools they need to keep their children’s accounts up to date.
Students who have lunch debt are still permitted to purchase an entree, but not extras.
“Students have access to a full breakfast and a full meal. That we will not take away. But it’s up to parents to use the best judgment with their families and monitor that,” Knott said. “We know that students who have food and are fed are more likely to perform better in school, have better behavior and as a whole feel valued and ready to learn.”
Districtwide, 20 percent of students are in the free and reduced lunch program, for a total of nearly 2,000 of the district’s total 9,800 students.
Knott said families can fill out the free and reduced lunch form at the start of the school year, but it needs to be completed annually. The form can also be filled out at any time during the year if a family’s financial circumstances change.
Reduced meals are 40 cents for lunch and 30 cents for breakfast. Standard prices are $1.70 for breakfast, $3.10 for lunch in grades K through 4, and $3.35 for grades 5 through 12. However, there are also add-on, such as chips, snacks and sports drinks.
“Families have the opportunity to take a proactive stance based on their situation,” Knott said. “Arbys Foundation saw that there was food insecurity happening, and they used their dollars for good and in support of students.”
The Arby’s Foundation pledged $1 million last year to address food insecurity by aiming to clear lunch debt at schools nationwide.
For more information or to apply for free or reduced meals at Westfield Washington Schools, visit wws.k12.in.us under the business tab.
For more on the Big Hearts fund, visit bit.ly/WWSBigHeartsDonation.
