Lunchtime at Porirua College. Photo: John Gerritsen / RNZ
At least two schools have opted out of the revised free lunch scheme, Ka Ora Ka Ako, for next year.
Monday was the deadline for leaving the programme before it switches in 2025 to a cheaper model for secondary and intermediate schools and primary schools with children in Years 7 and 8.
Principals spoken to by RNZ said they worried the changes would lose many of the scheme's benefits, but said they could not afford to opt out of it. Two schools that made lunches on-site said they would use their own funds to supplement the reduced government funding next year.
For schools switching to the new scheme next year, the government would pay $4 per child for schools that made their own lunches, and $3 per child for schools that received lunches from the government's chosen supplier.
Meanwhile, an evaluation that found profound benefits from Ka Ora Ka Ako was expected to be published at the end of next week, six months after it was originally due for release.
Porirua College principal Ragne Maxwell said the school would continue to make lunches on-site for its students and those at three other local schools next year. She said funding for the lunches would drop from more than $8 per teenage student to just $4, and that would have a big effect.
"At the moment a student might open up a pack and get a serving of butter chicken, a yoghurt or a healthy muffin, and then some fruit. They're now going to be getting a paper bag with a sandwich in it and having some bowls of apples or things around so they can grab one. That's a big shift."
She said the change would hit hard for children from homes where hot meals were few and far between.
"This is going to impact on kids' lives and kids' futures. We are addressing poverty in the most effective way you can imagine, which is by directly feeding the kids who are most affected by poverty."
Maxwell said the school was staying in the scheme because it had such strong benefits for student wellbeing and attendance.
Tairangi School in Porirua also made its own lunches, but had not expected to move to the lower funding model until 2026. That changed when the government announced in October that primary schools with children in Years 7 and 8, known as full primaries, and composite schools - which had children at all year levels - would switch next year so schools were not receiving two different lunch schemes - one for children in Years 0-6 and the other for older children.
The Cabinet decision was made after the Ministry of Education had already selected a shortlist of suppliers and begun negotiations. The timing meant companies that expected to continue providing lunches to Y0-6 children in full primary and composite schools next year were told they had been replaced without the opportunity to tender for the work.
Tairangi School principal Jason Ataera. Photo: John Gerritsen / RNZ
Tairangi Primary principal Jason Ataera said the change left a big hole in the Porirua school's budget for lunches.
"The quick maths on that means that instead of $30,000 less food for children we're now at $66,000 less food for children in our school, and we can't cover $66,000 worth of loss."
He said the school was trying to find ways to bring costs down.
"We're currently looking at ways to essentially provide lower quality food to ensure all children can get meals at school. There's not a huge amount of savings that we can make, but we're trying to where we can.
"A big casualty will be dairy products. Already we weren't funded enough to provide the daily recommended dairy intake and so things like yoghurts have disappeared, which is a real shame for our kids."
Ataera said the in-house model massively reduced food waste - from about 60-70 litres (16-18 gallons) per day with a bulk provider of lunches to just one or two litres (0.26-0.53 gallons) - and had community and education benefits so the school wanted to make it work.
In Rotorua, Kaitao Intermediate principal Phil Palfrey said the contract for school lunches would go from a local provider to one based in Hamilton next year. He said he was dubious about the change, but schools could not afford to leave the scheme.
"We don't want our kids to miss out on food that could be good. So, you drop out at your own peril really. It's the logistics that we're worried about and whether or not it arrives on time, how it gets delivered and who's going to deliver it, those things are a concern. It's just this current system is so jolly good."
Rotorua Primary principal Fred Whata said the full primary school would also be served by the Hamilton-based provider next year. He said children would be the ultimate judges of whether the change was successful.
"Our taonga, ie our students, will ultimately decide whether that ends up in the rubbish tin or they just don't eat it. So quality is at the forefront of most schools' thinking."
Whata said the changes to the lunch programme looked like a shortcut.
"Shortcuts just don't work," he said.
The government was told a year ago that early findings from an evaluation of the scheme showed profound benefits.
That study was due to be published in June this year, but the Ministry of Education said it was now expected to be out on 6 December.
Asked to explain the delay, the ministry said: "Since the 2024 Budget announcement in May, our primary focus has been on planning, designing, and addressing the many elements involved in implementing the new school lunch model. This is to make sure that around 176,000 students in 748 schools will have access to nutritious school lunches starting on day one of Term 1, 2025.
"As a result, the assessment and subsequent release of the fifth evaluation report of Ka Ora Ka Ako has not been prioritised. We expect the report to be on the website by the end of next week and will confirm when it's been published."
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