A worker cleans a middle school cafeteria. Credit: Katherine Frey/The Washington Post

With two girls in elementary school and a mother who is a teacher, the Dringenburg household in a Milwaukee suburb had been joyous and excited about back-to-school season — until this year, when the Waukesha School District board decided to opt out of a federally funded program that would give free meals to all students regardless of family income.

The board voted June 9 to return to the pre-pandemic National School Lunch Program, which offers free and reduced-price lunches to students who apply and receive federal money for them. Waukesha is the only eligible school districtin the state to eschew the funding.

Although Dave Dringenburg’s children had never qualified for the National School Lunch Program, he said the decision angered and disappointed him because officials “seem to be out of touch with the community’s needs.” It also led to an opportunity, he said, to advocate for change in a city where demographics and attitudes are changing rapidly.

“We’re determined to make Waukesha as good as it can be, starting with something as […]

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