Minnesota schools without kitchens can't provide free meals

Packed into a small kitchenette at the Mathematics and Science Academy (MSA) in Woodbury, students heated up their lunches in the microwave.

Sanjana Tatikonda, a seventh-grader, eats pasta, but said she usually brings Indian food. Beniamen Girma said he brought her carrots and a hamburger made by her mother.

The charter school doesn't have a kitchen to serve hot lunches or space to store large quantities of fresh fruits and vegetables, so nearly 700 students bring their own meals each day.

“Sometimes it's hard to make lunch every morning. Pizza arrives on Fridays, which is a big relief,” Sanjana said.

MSA executive director Kate Hinton said she was excited about the commercial kitchen, but said more funding was needed.

“Building financing has been stagnant for 10 years, and that's creating a huge problem for expansion,” Hinton said.

Hinton explained that charter schools are public schools and do not receive private funding. Unlike public schools, charter schools receive no tax revenue or levies.

“We rely almost entirely on the state and federal governments for funding,” Hinton said. “I'm concerned that there are students and families who don't choose MSA because they can't provide food. So it's kind of a deterrent for low-income students.”

The Minnesota Department of Education said 15 schools across the state, including online schools, are not benefiting from the free meal program.

DREAM Technical Academy in Willmar is a former state hospital facility and all cottages are registered with the Minnesota Historical Society.

“So when they renovated this facility for us, we weren't able to install a full commercial kitchen or anything like that,” said Tammy Nick, school social worker at DREAM Technical Academy. said.

For years, Nick has been trying to arrange for lunches to be brought by a food service contractor or a nearby school. She said other districts are short-staffed.

Nick said about 80 percent of DREAM students come from low-income households.

“Our staff buys things out of their own pocket. You know, fruit and bread and peanut butter. [and] Jelly and stuff like that,” she said.

Back at Woodbury, vending machines and a small pantry are options, but students say it's not the same as a hot lunch.

“If I don't bring my own food, I get really hungry,” Beniamen said. “It just makes my day even worse.”

“When you're hungry, you have trouble concentrating and your ability to learn decreases. Some students don't want people to know they're hungry,” Hinton says.