Coronavirus
Holmen school lunch director supports plans for universal lunch access in Wisconsin schools
School lunch programs in Wisconsin got some attention this week, when Governor Tony Evers met with Holmen High School staffers about offering free breakfast and lunch to students. The nutrition service director for the Holmen Schools, Mike Gasper, supports the idea of the government paying for school meals.
“These kids struggle when they’re hungry,” says Gasper. “Honestly, if you really want to break the cycle of poverty, they have to do well in school. If they’re not eating, they’re not going to do well in school.”
Gasper says kids took advantage of free lunch programs at high levels during the COVID outbreak.
“It wasn’t just the kids,” he says. “It was everybody, was eating, and I think it was a different atmosphere in schools. There was a sense of community in these schools. It was a good thing.”
Kevin Keeffe
March 17, 2023 at 10:35 am
Honestly – there are more problems fouling up our schools than being hungry or not eating lunch! Math, Reading, Writing, American Government, none of these classes are being taught well, or at at a very least, the students are not being held accountable for the content of the classes. Discipline and decorum in our schools is near totally absent, evidenced by dress code, hall way language, and the unwillingness of teachers to discipline. I have walked the hallways of our schools at different times, listened the language, witnessed the dress and behaviors. Our schools are failing, period, has very little or nothing to do with ‘free lunch’available.