Under pressure, Trump administration reverses course, easing way for Philly, U.S. kids to get school lunch during pandemic
by Alfred Lubrano, Updated: September 1, 2020- 6:33 PM


As Philadelphia’s school year begins Wednesday with remote learning, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has given in to bipartisan pressure from Congress and announced it will eliminate red tape that would have made it difficult for children at home to access school meals. For the USDA, this reverses a highly unpopular stance taken by the Trump administration during a pandemic that’s plunged families into unemployment and poverty.

Beginning in March, the USDA relaxed its own complex regulations and allowed families to pick up breakfast and lunch at schools or other sites, since their children were compelled to learn virtually from home. As a result, many more children were able to eat. But during the summer, the agency said it would end the waivers once the school year started, claiming it didn’t have permission or money from Congress to continue. “While we want to provide as much flexibility as local school districts need during this pandemic,” Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said last month, “the scope of this request is beyond what USDA currently has the authority to implement.”

In a stunning barrage of letters to the USDA, members of Congress disagreed, saying they had indeed given the agency the wherewithal to allow the feeding to continue. Calling the agency’s refusal to extend all school meal waivers “baffling during this national crisis in which 17 million U.S. children didn’t have enough to eat this summer,” Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D., Mich.) wrote Perdue last month that there was no basis to his claim that he lacks standing to continue waivers. “We urge you to immediately reverse your decision,” she concluded.

Perdue evidently relented, saying Monday, “Today, we are ... extending summer meal program flexibilities for as long as we can, legally and financially.” He said the extension would last at least until Dec. 31. Speculation has arisen that the USDA made it difficult to continue feeding kids who were learning virtually because the Trump administration wanted schools open for in-person learning. Administration officials denied that. The USDA decision not to extend waivers was unpopular among both Republicans and Democrats, managing to unite unlikely partners such as Sens. Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) and Bob Casey (D., Pa.), both of whom opposed the agency’s position.


https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia-schools-free-lunch-congress-usda-poverty-children-20200901.html