A Prince George's County (Md.) school board member wants to make school lunches free for all students in the district while the federal government shutdown continues.
NBC4 Washington reports that Board of Education member K. Alexander Wallace has made the request in a letter to Monica Goldson, the interim CEO for Prince George's County Public Schools.
Wallace notes that Prince George's County has one of the largest populations of federal government employees in the nation.
Waiving fees for student meals "will ease the concerns of many families of having to pay for the nutrition of their children...our students," he says in the letter.
He also says his parents are retired federal government employees who had to live through government shutdowns during the time he grew up in the county.
"While my parents no longer have to live with these worries, many of the families I proudly represent, and countless more countrywide, unfortunately do," he says.
Wallace says the cost of meals is already fully funded in the school system's budget and the money that students pay daily is used to pay down as much of the budget as possible.
He says he expects to hear from Goldson soon and has the support of several fellow school board members.
