A former teacher is raising money to tackle school lunch debt. It's an issue costing districts across the state thousands of dollars, but she also wants to spread awareness about what hunger can do to a student.
Kayla Bilodeau has seen what happens when a student goes hungry in her classroom.
Stream Connecticut News for free, 24/7, wherever you are.
WATCH HERE“It’s really hard to stay awake when you’re hungry, so you can’t focus on the lesson,” she said.
As a former teacher, she’s seen firsthand the impact school lunch can have on students and their families.
Get top local Connecticut stories delivered to you every morning with the News Headlines newsletter.
SIGN UP “Without proper nutrition, access to quality meals, we cannot expect students to perform the way we’re looking to see them perform,” Bilodeau said.
She’s trying to spread awareness and raise money through a GoFundMe campaign to pay off some student lunch debt in Connecticut.
“It is not a selective issue. It’s not isolated to one demographic or one community,” she said.
In a survey of about 80 school districts across the state, the School Nutrition Association of Connecticut or SNACT found the total amount of student lunch debt is about $850,000 so far this year and approaching $1 million by the end of the school year, much of it from schools in Fairfield County. SNACT says some of the debt is driven by families who are stuck in a gray area financially.
“So those are families who make quote unquote too much to qualify for free or reduced school meals, but they are really not making enough to make ends meet,” Randall Mel, vice president of SNACT, said.
He says some school districts have seen debts balloon up to about $50,000 which comes out of a school district’s budget.
“That's the salary of a couple paraprofessionals or additional, you know, an additional part-time person or additional hours, additional school supplies,” he said.
Both SNACT and Bilodeau says the solution is free universal school meals in Connecticut.
“Kids should not have to worry about how they’re going to eat,” Bilodeau said.
The GoFundMe will continue through May 31. Bilodeau says all of the money raised will be going to school districts with debt.
