Many York Students Reject What Cafeteria Offers

ELMHURST, IL – Many lunches in Elmhurst schools end up in the garbage, an official said this week. The district wants to reverse that trend.

Next school year, Elmhurst School District 205 plans to overhaul the lunch program at York High School. The changes may be later extended to other schools.

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To make this happen, York would withdraw from the National School Lunch Program, which reimburses schools for providing low-income students with free and reduced-price meals.

The district would then absorb the costs of low-income students' meals. But that would be offset by increased income from students attracted by the greater offerings.

Now, about 650 York students, or 25 percent, get lunch in the cafeteria, which officials say is far lower than in other school systems.

According to the district, the national program's requirements constrain what schools can offer. For instance, portion sizes must remain the same from kindergarten to 12th grade, officials said.

"As we grow, our appetites grow as well," Joe Blomquist, the district's assistant superintendent of finance, said at this week's finance committee meeting.

If York leaves the national program, the district expects lunch participation to increase by 70 to 140 students. That increase, officials said, would offset the loss of $150,000 in federal money.

The district provided a list of suburban districts, mostly wealthy, that have already left the national program. Some of them, Blomquist said, have lunch participation rates of 45 percent to 90 percent.

School board members seemed supportive of administrators' proposal.

"I've been hoping that something like this could happen for a long time," member Beth Hosler said. "I just have seen a lot of food go in the garbage."

She said she liked the idea of students staying on campus for lunch, given York lacks nearby options.

"I just feel like it's safer if they stay nearby or just sit outside with food they enjoy," Hosler said.

Member Kelly Henry also welcomed the idea and wanted it extended to other schools.

"I feel the elementary schools could have a lot of improvement to what we're currently offering," she said.

Officials plan to provide more details on the proposal at the finance committee's November meeting.