Education
BY ELLE BENT
Texas opts out of new summer food program Texas is one of 15 states that will not implement the new Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Pro- gram, or Summer EBT, in which families receive $40 per eligible child monthly to supplement the cost of food during summer break. The gist Texas couldn’t successfully launch the program this year due to “current resource constraints at the state agencies, the level of effort needed to implement a new program and the need for new appropriations from the Legislature," said Thomas Vazquez, Texas Health and Human Services Commission spokesperson. This includes a current strain on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, causing many eligible Texans to wait up to six months to receive benefits. Summer EBT would have supplemented the already existing Summer Benefit Food Service
Former school serves as police training site A former Austin ISD school will tempo- rarily be used for school safety training for about 750 officers from the AISD Police Department and Travis County Constables, officials said. The background The site is the former Rosedale School, at 2117 W. 49th St., Austin which lacked ame- nities for Special Education students and closed in February 2022. What’s next District officials will continue to discuss how to permanently repurpose the facility. One proposed idea includes a housing concept meant to prioritize AISD teachers, staff and families.
Put into perspective
20% of Texas children are food insecure meaning they don't know where their next meal is coming from 37% of Austin ISD students are eligible for free meals 3.7% of Dripping Springs ISD students are eligible for free meals
SOURCES: TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY, FEEDING TEXAS/COMMUNITY IMPACT
program; which serves food to children and teenag- ers at no cost in designated sites. CEO of Feeding Texas, Celia Cole, said that the current program is challenging for many families because of the distance to those designated sites. Stay tuned The HHSC will continue to work with other stakeholders in order to implement the program at some point in the future in Texas, Vazquez said. Feeding Texas will also continue advocating for the implementation next summer, in 2025.
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SOUTH CENTRAL AUSTIN EDITION
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