GUEST COLUMN Free school meals help families cope with rising food costs

BY MICHAEL G. LEICHLITER

We’ve all seen the egg story — a dozen eggs is, at its cheapest, more than $5 in Vermont stores currently.

For the two in five people who experience hunger in our state, this is just the tip of the iceberg. The looming end of SNAP emergency allotments from the federal government, one of several Covid-19 pandemic federal nutrition supports that have been withdrawn, means that about $6 million that has sustained so many of our neighbors, and many of my district’s students and their families, will leave an impossible hole to fill.

All this is to say that now is the time to celebrate Vermont’s successes and continue to work toward solidifying the supports we have in place now — like universal free school meals.

This was passed as a sin-

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Burlington Area Newspaper Group gle-year program during the 2022 legislative session, and this year, legislators are working to make the program permanent, providing breakfast and lunch to Vermont students at no cost. ends meet. They have three growing children who are hard-working and caring children in our schools. This was always a sticky point for the relationship between the school and family. It was heart-breaking

This was passed as a single-year program during the 2022 legislative session, and this year, legislators are working to make the program permanent, providing breakfast and lunch to Vermont students at no cost.

As the Superintendent of the Harwood Unified Union School District in Washington County, I see firsthand the very real change universal school meals has made in my students’ lives.

Many families in our district do not meet the federal free and reduced lunch criteria. One such family historically carried a very high lunch debt every year. Both parents work and one of the parents holds multiple jobs to make for the cafeteria worker who ran the register to tell the child that, “your lunch account is in the negative.” Parents would often speak with their principal and say, “I forgot the check, I’ll bring it next week ...”

The principals simply wanted all of the children to have a healthy and relaxing lunch without feeling badly that their parents were struggling to feed them while at school. This is no longer a worry for chil- dren, families or principals thanks to universal school meals for Vermont children.

Universal school meals not only benefit our students and their families, but have improved the experience of our school nutrition professionals. Universal school meals, coupled with the local purchasing incentive that has been in place for two years, enables school nutrition experts to deepen and expand relationships with local food producers, cooking with fresh and healthy ingredients while simultaneously supporting our state’s agriculture economy.

Together we can make sure that no child in Vermont ever goes hungry during the school day — and we can give them the opportunity to enjoy delicious and locally-sourced and produced meals.

To join in with this work, visit www.universalschoolmealsvt.org.

Michael G. Leichliter of Duxbury is the superintendent of schools for the Harwood Unified Union School District.

Letters To The Editor

Making land conservation a priority

Are you interested in protecting land from development in Williston? Did you know that our town has a fund dedicated to acquiring parcels of land valuable to residents and the environment? Williston’s Environmental Reserve Fund (ERF) was established in 1989 to protect lands in town with valuable natural resources.

The newly proposed town budget will reduce town contributions to this fund from $70,000 this fiscal year to $50,000 in FY2024 (July 2023 to June 2024). The current balance of the ERF is $418,000. Given the increase in property values and increasing development pressure, $418,000 is not always enough to protect an important parcel from development when a landowner is ready to sell.

To set us on a good path forward, the Williston Conservation Commission has requested the following of the selectboard:

• Designate $100,000 in FY2024 to boost the balance of the ERF and reflect increasing property values;

• Establish a policy to reach and maintain a working ERF balance of $800,000, and include this policy in the 2024 Town Plan, which would enable the town to work on conserving more than one high priority parcel simultaneously and;

• Establish a plan to fund the ERF at $100,000 annually until the target balance is achieved.

What can you do? Write to the town manager or selectboard members to share your opinion on the town budget allocation for conserving important land in Williston, and visit the Natural Resources section of the town’s website to learn more.

We have a proud history of land conservation. Over 2,200 acres have been conserved with $2.1 million of ERF funds, representing a little over 10 percent of the land area of Williston. For every $1 of ERF funds spent, our town has seen roughly $2 in value thanks to matching funds, gifts and grants.

The ERF has been used to conserve some of our most iconic places, including the Isham, Johnson and Siple farms; the Hill/Boomhower property that became Sucker Brook Hollow Country Park; and Mud Pond. Most recently, the ERF was used to leverage the purchase of the 400-acre Catamount Community Forest. Without these resources, Williston would be a very different place for our residents.

Eric Howe Chair, Williston Conservation Commission

Ellie Beckett for selectboard

I have known Ellie Beckett and her family for much of Ellie’s life. Knowing her parents (mom, our former Town Clerk; dad, heavily involved in Scouting) it is very clear “the nut didn’t fall far from the tree.”

I picture Ellie at the dinner table with her mom, Deb Beckett, discussing Williston’s town issues and policies while learning the relationships between town planning/zoning, town manager, selectboard and the office of Town Clerk.

I recently worked with Ellie as she laid out her strategy to become an active civil servant for Williston. She hopes to someday equal Deb’s contributions. Our time together convinces me she will succeed. Vermont clearly needs more young professional women to lead us forward in our see LETTERS page 8