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Food stamp cuts by Trump admin may affect students
Donald Arbuckle | Sports Editor
Free lunches at schools is a food assistance program that aims to feed students without having their parents pay for their lunches at school.
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Free lunches are targeted toward low-income families on food stamps or other forms of financial aid, but the Trump administration plans to put regulations on the number of people and families on federal food stamps.
This, as a result, will cause students to lose eligibility for free and reduced lunches. According to “USA Today”, nearly 1 million students will be unable to get free lunches because they will not be qualified to receive this program.
They propose cut of food stamps is intended to trim the cost of food assistance programs, but this will needlessly affect the students and challenge the school that serves these students.
The biggest concern about limiting the families on food stamps is that when students are at school they will be unable to eat or receive food. There are also concerns about students not receiving assistance at home.
Staff and faculty are even worried about the possible outcome of cutting food stamps
The end of free and reduced lunches is a national action that will affect Scottsburg High School. There are around 2,700 kids in total that make up Scott County School District 47 percent of students are on free lunch and 9 percent of students are on reduced lunch. If the Trump administration plans to go through with cutting food stamps, a large portion of students will be inevitably forced to pay for their lunches. These parents that rely on food stamps and other forms of financial aid will be forced to pay for their children’s lunch with money they do not have.
“It isn’t the kids’ fault,” said Chris Routt principal of Scottsburg High School. “Look at a 5-year-old or kindergartner, it isn’t their fault.”
According to the Kids Count Data Center, In Indiana, there is about 39.5 percent of students that are eligible for free lunches and 7.7 percent that qualify for reduced lunches. That is roughly around 500, 000students that are apart of the food assistance program, and this number will be cut in half due to the limit on food stamps and other financial aid options.
“This will affect more than students, it will affect our community,” Routt said. “What will happen when these parents have three kids and have to pay for their lunches? This isn’t just a national problem but a local one. State or local government might help in some way?”
