The federal government shutdown ended last week after 43 days, but Kansas City area schools are still trying to help families make ends meet after weeks of financial strain.
Thousands of federal workers missed paychecks after being furloughed while others worked without pay. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, cuts and delays left millions of low-income families across the country without food assistance.
Jon Hile, the executive director of the Kansas City Public Schools Education Foundation, said that’s put financial hardship on many of the school district's families who were already grappling with higher costs of living.
“For our families that rely on SNAP benefits to make sure that there's food on the table and that students can come to school fed and ready to learn, it's obviously a very, very difficult time,” Hile said. “The uncertainty of knowing what comes next is equally as difficult to navigate.”
An increasing number of families have been turning to local support systems like food pantries, mental health services and schools to help fill the gaps.
Here’s a look at how school districts around the Kansas City area are connecting families with food, clothing and other resources to meet increasing family needs.
Kansas City Public Schools
Kansas City Public Schools shared an online guide to school district and community resources including clothing, food, mental health services and rent assistance. Families are also encouraged to call the United Way of Greater Kansas City’s 211 hotline.
Hile said the foundation launched the KCPS Cares Fund as a rapid response to the challenges family liaisons were hearing in schools.
“There was significant demand and increasing demand for the pantries, for the clothes closets, and then also just this kind of sense of uncertainty,” Hile said.
The funds go toward support for district families, including increasing the amount of food in school pantries. Hile said donations are coming in, and some individual schools have also launched food drives to keep shelves full.
But the challenges KCPS families are facing weren’t limited to the days of the shutdown, Hile said. While the shutdown ending will provide some relief, many families are still grappling with increasing prices, job insecurity and access to transportation and affordable housing.
Hile said helping families meet those needs also supports student learning.
"In order to educate children effectively, we need to make sure that the entire family is stable and that students can go home to a warm house and have access to the food they need to be successful,” Hile said.
Lee’s Summit School District
Lori Danella, the Lee’s Summit School District’s nutrition director, said her team has been getting the word out to families that they can sign up for free and reduced-price lunches at any point throughout the year.
The number of students who participate in the district’s program is up by a percentage point from this time last year.
“If they've been laid off for a while, or if one of the parents has lost a job, they can apply right then when their income changes and get approved,” Danella said.
During the government shutdown, Danella said several families with parents who were air traffic controllers applied for free and reduced-price lunches because they were without a paycheck.
If families are approved, their student will qualify for free and reduced-price lunches for the rest of the school year. It also automatically qualifies them for district assistance including access to the early childhood program, scholarships for dual-credit class and waived fees for Advanced Placement tests.
With the holidays coming up, Danella thinks it’s going to be a tough year. She said families may also be catching up financially after missing paychecks or food assistance during the shutdown.
That’s why access to free and reduced-price meals throughout the year is important, Danella said.
“Groceries are still high. You've got rent, you've got mortgage, you've got car payment, gas. You buy clothing for them. Christmas is coming up,” Danella said. “The last thing on their mind is paying for school lunches; they try to get all their other bills paid.”
A full list of resources around Lee’s Summit and Jackson County compiled by district social workers can be found here.
North Kansas City Schools
On top of year-round support for students’ food, clothing and mental health needs, North Kansas City Schools also works with community partners to make the holiday season special for kids.
The Clay County Sheriff's Department provides food boxes and holiday gifts to 40 students this year through Shop with a Cop and other programs. The Kansas City Police Department also adopted more than two dozen students through Heroes and Helpers to take shopping for Christmas gifts.
At the Northland Christmas Store, families can “shop” for gifts, free of charge. The district also helps families apply for the Salvation Army Northland Corps’ Angel Tree program.
Wendy Marckx, a school community resource specialist at Eastgate Sixth Grade Center, said there’s higher demand for holiday support this year.
“Both the Heroes and Helpers and Shop with Sheriff programs were filled in just a couple of days,” Marckx said. “That's more quickly than we have ever seen in the past.”
A district spokesperson said families in need of support should reach out directly to their school. There are 29 school community resource specialists across each school to assist families.
Park Hill School District
District social worker Stephanie Richison said her team has seen an increased need for financial assistance including for rent and utilities. Social workers have also seen an increase of checklists families fill out if they’re in need of food, clothing or school supplies.
The Park Hill School District also partners with the Harvesters BackSnack program to provide free meals, but Richison said they have 100 more requests than they have available backpacks.
“With the government shutdown and the SNAP benefit issue, we really started gearing up to make sure that we had resources for our families,” Richison said.
Richison said the district expanded its partnership with Feed Northland Kids to all of its schools, allowing school social workers and nurses to keep food and snacks for kids in their office. The school nutrition team is also letting families know they can sign up for free and reduced-price lunches at any time.
School social workers also connect families with food pantries and social service agencies, including Metropolitan Lutheran Ministries, St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry and the Southern Platte Emergency Assistance Center.
Families can access financial assistance through the district’s Education Foundation fund and get clothes for their kids at its year-round clothing center and the Northland Clothing Center.
Richison said families were already making more requests for financial assistance and now those impacted by the government shutdown may be a month behind on bills.
“After the holidays, when we get back, there will probably be a little uptick in requests, potentially to help with maybe some of those basic needs, because money had to be used in other places,” Richison said. “But we also try to work with our families in other ways, to be creative to free up funds in other places.”
Even without the stresses caused by the government shutdown, school social workers ensure families know where to go if they’re in need of any resources or emergency assistance.
“Public schools are so important to how society functions and takes care of kids and families,” said Kelly Wachel, chief communications officer. “Not only are we educating students at high levels and teaching them reading and writing and all of the things that we do in schools for curriculum, we are taking care of kids and families at the emotional level, at the support level, at the resource level, we are helping our communities stay afloat, and we do that regardless of what's happening around us."
Shawnee Mission School District
Anne Langdon, the Shawnee Mission School District’s family services support specialist and McKinney-Vento homeless liaison, said families were already financially strained before the federal shutdown started.
Langdon said families’ incomes are spread thin on high rents in Johnson County and increasing late fees. Government furloughs, anxieties about SNAP benefits disappearing, and financial uncertainty also affected families, she said.
“So many families are living just one paycheck away from real financial setbacks, so any disruption in their regular paycheck routine can offset and cause a big trickle-down domino effect in their finances,” Langdon said.
Langdon said school social workers, counselors and teachers focus on identifying student needs, like if they come to school hungry — and connect their family with different community resources.
Johnson County has multi-serve centers that offer utility assistance, food pantries and referrals for families in need. Langdon said some schools have food pantries to help families on the spot, but social workers also send out a list of resources so they know where to find more resources.
Johnson County Mental Health also offers help to district families. If families are already struggling, Langdon said financial hardship can exacerbate their mental health needs.
Despite the end of the federal shutdown, Langdon said she anticipates the level of needs for families to remain high.
She said health care prices are now a concern for many families, and general costs aren’t going down — and the holidays are coming up.
“Holidays are always hard because people want to provide a nice holiday time for their kids and presents and family and travel and all the things that are part of a tradition at the same time when there's less funding or basic income in the household,” Langdon said.
Her team is already making sure that families in need have baskets of food for Thanksgiving and connecting them with agencies to help with holiday gifts and food.
Blue Valley School District
The Blue Valley School District’s community development team said they are meeting the increased demand for resources during the colder seasons.
That includes distributing 630 food bags to support a household for the two weeks off from school during winter break.
This year, a district spokesperson said they’re focusing on providing food that aligns with families’ culinary traditions, including those from Afghanistan, Rwanda, Ukraine and other diverse backgrounds who may have dietary needs.
Students can also receive free winter coats, hats and gloves during the cold months. Families in need of toys, household items or clothing for the holiday are connected to social service agencies or "adopted" by community and school partners.
