School District of Black River Falls Making Changes to School Lunch Program

Wednesday, July 16th, 2025 -- 9:00 AM

(Kim Leadholm, WEAU) The School District of Black River Falls is making changes to its school lunch program.

According to Kim Leadholm with WEAU, the district previously provided free lunches to all of its students. Now, it has made the decision to no longer do that.

“Looking at a projected loss of between $130-200,000 a year,” Dr. Shelly Severson, the superintendent of the School District of Black River Falls, said. “That is more than we felt like we could gamble.”

For the last two years, the district was involved in the Community Eligibility Program (CEP). The CEP provided free meals to all students. During the pandemic, the district initiated different food programs to help feed families in the area.

Through those programs, it got a strong reimbursement and the funds from those reimbursements helped finance the CEP. “The CEP program, the school operates at a loss,” Severson said.

“We knew going into each of those years that there was going to be a loss, and because of that healthy fund balance, we decided that was worth the investment.”

But now, the district can no longer afford to keep the program going. “Last year, food prices went up fairly significantly and our labor costs continued to rise,” Severson said. “The fund balance now, after three years, has significantly declined.”

“We anticipated not being able to provide CEP forever, but it was our hope to do it for as long as we could,” Connie Seiber, the Nutrition Services Supervisor for the School District of Black River Falls, said.

It’s important to note that all students in the School District of Black River Falls will still be receiving lunch; the only change is that families that can afford the lunches will now have to pay for them.

“Students at the Black River Falls School District will be given the opportunity for the free universal breakfast, and they will get a second chance,” Seiber said. “At lunchtime, no child will go hungry.”

Severson said if families are concerned about the changes, they should apply for the free and reduced meal program. “If there is a family that has a specific hardship that free and reduced, they don’t meet the federal definition, we can designate them as free and reduced locally,” Severson said.

So, regardless of a family’s financial status, all students will still get lunch. “There will be food available, free breakfast for all,” Severson said. “Nobody will be turned away with no lunch.”

The School District of Black River Falls also has an angel fund that community members can donate to. Those funds go towards negative food balances and senior debts.

If you are interested in donating to that fund, reach out to the main office of any of the schools or the district office.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.