Last week, Washoe County students lost guaranteed school meals due to Joe Lombardo’s veto of AB319. Even after Washoe County drained its savings to cover school meals for the first month of the school year, Republicans in the State Legislature doubled down on Lombardo’s veto calling the program a “waste of money.” As of last week, Washoe County parents will have to pay more this year than last year for school meals and students will no longer have the guarantee of being able to eat at school, something that can make a sizable impact on students’ educational attainment, specifically by improving student health and attendance, reducing disciplinary infractions, and increasing test scores among marginalized groups of students.
“Washoe County families have started to feel the impact of Joe Lombardo and Republicans’ decision to ignore Nevada students by denying them guaranteed access to nutritious meals that would have improved health and learning outcomes,” said Nevada State Democratic Party Spokesperson Carlos Perez. “Lombardo and legislative Republicans are in lockstep with Donald Trump’s Project 2025 agenda which would drastically reduce access to school meals by completely eliminating the Community Eligibility Provision, affecting hundreds of Nevada public schools.”
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