MANITOWOC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Manitowoc residents are still trying to make sense of the decision to end free meals for all public school students.
Superintendent James Feil made the decision without school board approval and issued a new statement Wednesday evening about the issue.
“My bottom line is that I do not want any hungry children to go hungry and our principals and Solutions Teams will work to look for any children who may fall through any gaps to ensure they are fed,” Feil wrote to families and staff Wednesday. “However, I do not believe that families who can afford to pay for their children’s meals should have meals provided for free.”
Manitowoc’s public school district has reverted to the pre-pandemic model of serving free and reduced meals to students who qualify.
The district qualifies for a federal provision, called the Community Eligibility Provision, that would have allowed the district to continue serving free meals to all students this school year, which started during the pandemic.
According to the Department of Public Instruction, Manitowoc is the only district in the state that opted out of the program for this school year.
More than 800 people have now signed an online petition for Feil to resign. That is about 300 more than a week ago when angry residents packed a school board meeting to tell Feil how they feel about his decision to end free meals for all students.
“We have money to pay this to provide free meals for all, but that money could also be used for something else that is really important,” Feil told FOX 11 in an interview on October 10th.
Last week, Feil said being partially reimbursed for all meals with the federal Community Eligibility Provision would have still cost the district $200,000.
Shortly after Feil’s October 10th interview with FOX 11, a district official told FOX 11 it is actually costing the district about $100,000 more to go back to the free and reduced meal model, instead of staying with the CEP program.
However, school board President Stacey Soeldner says the district is now projecting it will break even after meeting with the district’s food service vendor on Monday.
FOX 11 asked Soeldner why the district wouldn’t have just kept feeding all students for free if the cost breaks even.
“Well I think we have to look at what is the need and I’ve heard the number 57% of our students are eligible for the free and reduced lunch, so we have a group of individuals that want to be responsible for their children and pay for that lunch because they can and they have the means to,” said Soeldner. “We want to make sure that we’re giving those parents that option to provide that for them while still taking care of those that need to.”
Soeldner says she wishes Feil included the school board before making his decision. However, she says he didn’t need to, and no board member has presented anything to reprimand Feil for his decision.
“I don’t see any policy and procedure that was broken,” said Soeldner.
Those calling for Feil to resign have accused him of playing politics with his decision.
Feil, who took the Manitowoc job in June of 2022, has said that same group has been against him on other issues, like changing curriculum in an effort to improve reading scores.
The resignation talk was set aside for a community forum on the meal issue Wednesday evening at Manitowoc’s city hall, which the Democratic Party of Manitowoc County helped put on.
“I’m not here representing any particular group or anything like that,” said Linda Gratz, one of the forum’s featured speakers and a former president of Manitowoc’s school board. “I’m a concerned citizen that has been following this topic the last couple months and I’m concerned about the children of the district.”
Former school board members spent about 90 minutes educating residents on the history of Manitowoc’s school lunch program and explaining how they arrived at the current situation.
“We were just hoping that the community would be able to give some input regarding it and that opportunity was not given, not even to the board,” former school board vice president Lisa Johnston said of Feil’s decision. “We need to have more involvement.”
While education and debate on the issue continues, the school district cannot opt back into the federal Community Eligibility Provision until next school year.
District officials say principals at every school have been told to waive fees for any student with extenuating circumstances, who do not qualify for free or reduced meals.
The district would then cover those costs through its general fund or with donations.
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