After Winfield Mt-Union issued a letter stating that the USDA Free Lunch Program would be phased out, KCII News spoke with Winfield Mt-Union Superintendent Jeff Maeder.

The program was implemented at schools across the country to help alleviate some of the pressures caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic. The program itself was canceled before the upcoming 2022-2023 school year.

When asked about the program’s end, Maeder stated ” I think that it was certainly helpful to a lot of families, and I think that for a couple years time it was something families didn’t have to worry about amongst the other health concerns that people were worried about. As of right now I think that it is probably time to get back to the normal way of doing things, and I don’t think we can rely on out federal government to take care of everything like that, and ultimately it falls on the tax payers.”

He also mentioned that there are other ways for families in the school district to get on a free and reduced program. This program can be accessed by contacting the nutrition director for Winfield Mt-Union via their website or during registration for the upcoming school year.