The Dodge City school board's conflict Monday night over who will be eligible for school fee waivers revealed fundamental disagreements about more than just the waiver guidelines themselves. The discussion leading up to the compromise vote focused on another controversial topic: free school lunches.
That's because most of the Kansas school districts surveyed by Dodge City school administrators use the USDA free lunch program as the criteria for their own fee waiver guidelines. The administration had compiled an impressive list of these districts and given a copy to every board member.
But the USD 443 board members who had voted to support school fees in May didn't buy it. They knew that here in Dodge City, a fee waiver guideline based on eligibility for free lunch is almost the same thing as having no fees at all. That's because about 77 percent of USD 443 students come from families with incomes low enough to meet federal guidelines
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