June 12, 2020
As the "official" school year finally comes to an end
across the United States, many of you are continuing to provide meals to
families through one of the federal Summer Meal Programs (and are especially
grateful to hear USDA's recent announcement of a nationwide area eligibility
waiver through August 31, 2020). Participation in summer meals is one strategy
to help school nutrition departments recover some of the financial losses
suffered in the wake of school closures and emergency meal service. And those financial
blows hit hard, affecting both expenses and revenues.
This article, our fifth in the magazine's series of COVID-19
digital supplements, offers some sobering statistics and stories from large and
small districts alike as they contend with a troubling new economic reality.
But the news is not all grim. This article also reinforces the resiliency of
school nutrition professionals in the face of the toughest challenges.
A PDF of this supplement is linked in this e-blast. You can read
"The Financial Blows of COVID-19"
on your device or print out a hard copy. Share with team members and other
stakeholders, especially school administrators and school business officials
contemplating different school reopening strategies. We simply ask that if you
share outside of the school nutrition community, credit be provided to: School
Nutrition/School Nutrition Association.
This article will also be available as a resource on the COVID-19 tab of
SchoolNutrition.org, and it will be inserted into the digital edition of the June/July 2020 issue of School
Nutrition.
School Nutrition thanks NutriStudents K-12 for
their generous support in making this article available.
Look for our next supplement to be released later in June.