Detroit Public Schools plans to keep serving meals to 40,000 students as SNAP cuts approach

Detroit Public Schools Community District is preparing to keep providing meals to students as federal SNAP cuts approach. Sharlonda M. Buckman, the district's chief external engagement officer, said the district's expectation is that students will continue to receive free breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinners in some after-school programs.

About 80% of the district's roughly 50,000 students receive free and reduced-price lunch. That means about 40,000 students depend on the meals.

Buckman said the district is concerned about hunger and about how losing SNAP benefits could affect learning and family stability.

"A healthy meal puts children in a better place to learn," Buckman said. "They aren't dealing with hunger in school. They're more ready to learn. Their behavior is generally better because they're having a balanced meal."

She said food is a basic need and children do better when their basic needs are met.

Buckman also raised concerns about the long-term effect of the policy changes. She said the district relies on SNAP and other benefit data to identify economically disadvantaged students, and losing that information could eventually hurt school funding.

"What I worry about, depending on what happens with these policies and how they hit states, is our ability to continue to be able to identify economically disadvantaged children that qualify for SNAP benefits and, long term, will that hurt our funding?" Buckman said.

During a brief SNAP pause, Buckman said funding partners stepped in to help provide supplemental meals. During the district's last winter and spring breaks, the district provided additional meals to almost 5,000 families.

Buckman said the district has worked to close the food insecurity gap, though she said she cannot say it has closed it completely.

She said families losing SNAP benefits could face additional stress, health problems, and more school absences, especially if elders in the home become ill.

"Not having basic nutrition could lead to other health disparities that negatively impact our children and our families," Buckman said. "It has a domino effect across a number of issues."

Buckman said Michigan's state government has supported education and that she hopes the state will continue to put children first.

"No matter the politics of the day, children need to be held harmless," Buckman said.

The district's immediate plan, Buckman said, is to continue serving meals to students regardless of what happens with SNAP benefits.