BRATTLEBORO — As an employee of a local, private school, I've been asking questions about the CEP (Community Eligibility Provision) that provides free food to schools in low-income areas meeting a swath of eligibility criteria published in a large book of guidelines (think The Lord of the Rings, but with many fewer Hobbits) since about spring of 2015.
All Brattleboro town elementary schools became eligible with a program roll-out effective fall of 2016 - excluding Saint Michael School.
Despite our school's relationship to the CEP-eligible supervisory union, multiple requests to be brought to the table, attempts to talk to WSESU decision makers, and, follow-up emails to the supervisory union and the state of about how WSESU determined who gets to play in the sandbox (despite really clearly outlined criteria stating that said sandbox is open), we've been stonewalled.
As a proponent of feeding hungry children, a school advocate, and a parent, I'm trying to understand how the process excluded Saint Michael School and continues to exclude and deny consultation despite really concrete calls for information/explanation - and despite data that clearly states our right to be brought to the table under the CEP's “equitable services guidelines.”
Excluding acronyms and really difficult-to-digest guidelines, I see some bigger and more deeply disappointing questions.
What's the downside to discussing broader food security in elementary schools? What can possibly be gained by refusing to have a conversation about how to bring federally subsidized food to hungry kids in an impoverished suburban community with a poverty rate that climbs annually?
At a time when children need loud, supportive voices more than ever, I'm standing up and asking for some accountability, conversation, and partnership on behalf of all academic institutions for all children.