[Weekly EdNews Round Up] 500,000 Kids Could Lose Free School Lunch

No one knows better than educators about the importance of staying up-to-date. In Edmentum’s Weekly News Round Up, you’ll find the latest and most interesting education news, all in one place.

A new rule proposed by the Agriculture Department intended to tighten access to food stamps could cost more than 500,000 children free school lunch meals. A healthy and balanced diet has been tied to student success and achievement by several studies, and critics of the change worry the loss of school meals would negatively affect the children’s academic performance and health. Read this story and more in this week’s EdNews Round Up.

500,000 kids could lose free school lunch under Trump administration proposal
USA Today
More than 500,000 kids could lose their automatic eligibility for free school meals following a Trump administration proposal to cut access to food stamps made last week. Under the proposed rule, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program would no longer provide benefits to as many as 3.1 million recipients with impact on school meal eligibility.

Is your school district prepared for a natural disaster?
Education Dive
Recent natural disasters have had a major financial impact on state budgets and insurance costs have skyrocketed in response to disasters, so district leaders need to take a hard look at how weather-related issues could affect their schools.

Too Few Guidance Counselors, Too Little Information: Why Community College Might Be the Best Path for High School Graduates — But They’ll Never Know It
The 74
Because of there being too few guidance counselors and favoring of 4-year colleges, students aren't given the information they need to make the best decisions for their education, and budget. Even students who have the grades to get into four year schools may not realized that they can't afford them until it's too late.

For These Native American Girls, Coding Became the Language to Discuss Mental Health
EdSurge
Kindra Locklear had an idea: What if she teamed up with a local Boys and Girls Club to help their middle school girls learn to code? 15 eight grade girls from the Lumbee Tribe joined the 1-week program built around using lesson plans and curriculum from the Girls Who Code Club to learn how to code. As their final impact project, the girls decided to build a website that aggregates mental health resources for their community.

How to develop an LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum
District Administration
In the past few years, California, New Jersey and Colorado have mandated that schools teach an LGBT-inclusive curriculum, and according to a recent report by Child Trends, many districts in 15 other states across the country are acting on their own to broaden the horizons of instruction.

Education policy is often a topic of conversation in state and federal legislatures. Stay in-the-know with this week’s top stories regarding education reform at the state and national level.

Segregation, 'School-to-Prison Pipeline' Fire Up Democratic Debate
EdWeek
The next president has a responsibility to ensure equity in school resources and student outcomes, Democratic presidential candidates said at a debate in Detroit Wednesday.

Tennessee will wait another year to grade its schools A-F
Chalkbeat
Tennessee has delayed for a second year its plan to start giving A-F grades to its 1,800 public schools — another reprieve for schools that are expected to receive poor ratings.

900 New York City Classrooms Test Positive for Lead
U.S. News
The presence of lead-based paint and visible deterioration was found in 938 classrooms, according to the inspection by the city of more than 5,400 classrooms in nearly 800 schools built before 1985. Officials found deteriorating lead paint in 302 of the schools and deteriorating paint in 2,245 classrooms.

DeVos Wants to Prioritize Education Funding for Opportunity Zones
U.S. News
The education secretary would shift hundreds of millions of dollars in education funding to designated communities.

How free college works in a red state like Texas
Quartz
Practically all of the top contenders back some form of tuition-free higher education, one response to the country’s $1.5 trillion student debt problem. But the concept is not exclusively liberal, or just a campaign promise. Dozens of states and cities around the country have already rolled out free college programs.