DES MOINES, Wash. — School districts around the region have been feeding kids this summer. The steady stream of cars at school buildings actually started in the spring when classes went online because of the pandemic.
For Highline Public Schools, before coronavirus closed campuses, seven out of 10 students relied on the district for meals.
"I just have to believe that number has gone up since the pandemic hit just because of the economic hardship that so many families are under," said Superintendent Susan Enfield.
Enfield said the kids they have been feeding don't have to be enrolled. As long as they are under 18 they can receive free breakfast and lunch, seven days a week.
During the times Enfield has helped distribute the food, she said, "it wasn't uncommon to have a family member, a parent to say, thank you. This is the only food in our house."
Now the superintendent is worried that some free meals could soon come to an end. That's because they've been operating under the federal Summer Food Service Program. But next month, when school starts remotely, they have to revert back to the National School Lunch Program which means no free meals on weekends or holidays.
"It has to be students who are enrolled in Highline that we have information on that we can document that we gave them the meals," Enfield explained about the National School Lunch Program. "This is going to be incredibly challenging to do while we're in distance learning and schools are closed."
Enfield is urging the USDA and the federal administration to provide a waiver so the free meals can continue with the same flexibility.
When asked what she thinks the outcome would be if the waiver is not extended, Enfield said, "I think that we will have children unnecessarily going hungry in our community which I just find unacceptable."
Enfield has joined with other superintendents, including Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Denise Juneau, urging lawmakers to take action.
Enfield said she's seen the pushback from critics.
"To say that, you know, we don't want to grant this waiver because then schools will just have another excuse to stay closed - it's just absolutely false," Enfield said.
She said she wants kids in the classroom as soon as it's safe.
"We are anticipating, like other districts in South King County, that the closure could go through the first quarter, so early November, but it's all contingent on what happens with the virus," she said.
What Enfield does not want is meals added to the long list of uncertainties.
"Feeding our children has to be job one," she said.