A lot of Clay county residents may know of the issue a few concerned residents in Clay have with the Board of Education over the schools – providing snacks for all elementary students in the four elementary schools in Clay County: Clay, Lizemores, H.E. White and Big Otter. The cost to provide a snack for each student would be 90 cents per snack per day which would equal out to be around $120,000 per year as an added cost on the budget for Clay County Schools.
Unfortunately, without making cuts in other important areas of the budget, that $120,000 is not available to be able to provide those snacks. On a positive side of this situation, Clay County Schools does provide free breakfasts and lunches to each student of Clay County every day of the school year, and when after-school starts, supper will be provided to those students who stay after. After-school will be four days a week, Monday through Thursday.
Also, a positive, the Board of Education has provided information to all of the concerned parents of students in Clay County that Clay County is experiencing the highest participation rates for breakfasts and lunches than before. Clay County is in the top 5. The law is very clear and specific that unhealthy snacks cannot be given to students. The schools cannot legally accept food donations to provide snacks, either. There are laws in place to protect all the children and they have to be followed. One big concern in not being able to accept food donations is all of the food allergies that are a threat, from nuts, to wheat, to dairy and the many more that can cause health problems, these have to be considered to protect the children. However, you, as a parent, CAN donate money to the school and the cooks can order snacks for the children so they can be provided snacks. If you don’t want to donate money, you can host a fundraiser to raise the money, give it to the school and the cooks can purchase the appropriate healthy snacks to be provided to the children.
There are reasons laws and rules are put in place and it is to protect the children of Clay County, from the youngest to the oldest. There are legal ways to fix this situation, set your thoughts and opinions aside and work together with the officials of the county to safely provide these things for our children!
