Board to decide on food program

After taking action and recommending considering the Community Eligibility Program, the Acadia Parish School Board has called a special session for Monday, Aug. 25, to decide its fate for the 2014-15 school year.

A program that has seen much debate in the past few months may yet be enacted in some Acadia Parish schools if the measure passes Monday.

The district has until Aug. 31 to tell the state it wants to join the program.

In general, the program seems swell enough, however, with only 13 of Acadia Parish’s 26 schools eligible, some board members have found it difficult to back a program that doesn’t work for the whole district.

Another part of the equation is basically all districts have some schools eligible but others not.

That debate returned Wednesday night at the board’s Budget/Finance Committee meeting. 

The committee is comprised of board members Gene Daigle, James Higginbotham and David Lalande as well as School Board President Doug LaCombe and chaired by Board Member John Suire.

“Again, it’s going to be hard to tell the people in Morse ‘no’ but the people in Estherwood qualify,” said Board Member Lynn Shamsie, a member of the Personnel/Insurance/Curriculum Committee.

Shamsie added that seeing a family making $200,000 a year eat free in one part of the parish while another making $40,000 in another not was a tough pill to swallow.

“I can’t support something like this,” said Board Member Milton Simar, who is also a member of the Personnel/Insurance/Curriculum Committee. 

Lalande’s approach, however, is different.

“I have some schools in and some schools out (of this program),” he said.

Suire pointed out that it appeared that all of the board members were in that boat before Lalande continued, adding that he was in favor of the federal program that is actually offering a little more money to the district’s food service program.

“If the federal government is offering a program where we can feed more of our people, free of charge ... in other words, it’s not my duty to represent your people, my duty is to represent the Rayne people, that’s what you’re saying...” said Lalande.

“We represent the parish,” interrupted Simar.

“We do, but what you’re saying is, ‘If I can’t get it, then they can’t get it’,” retorted Lalande.

“That’s fair; what’s fair for part of the parish, should be fair for the other part,” said Simar.

Another option that the board is weighing is waiting one more year to see what feedback the current 15 school districts and 183 schools in Louisiana participating have. 

Acadia has six schools on the fringe of participation eligibility and those six could potentially be eligible as of next year, according to Superintendent John Bourque, there is, however, no guarantee.

By vote of the Budget/Finance Committee, the measure will be decided upon at the special session after a recommendation by the committee. The recommendation passed 3-1 with LaCombe recording the only “nay.”

After the committee meeting, LaCombe explained his “nay” vote. 

Like some of his fellow board members, LaCombe is curious about the program and the fact that some schools in an area are eligible, but others are not.

Under the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, schools that predominately serve low-income children are eligible for the program.

The program means these schools do not collect or process meal applications for free and reduced-price meals and instead serves breakfast and lunch at no cost to all in the school.

Debate is sure to once again rage prior to the vote Monday night at the special session. The special session is open to the public and begins at 5 p.m.