BUFFALO — Like many other districts in the state, Johnson County School District No. 1 has budgeted thousands of state dollars to support its nutrition program for the 2025-26 school year.

However, because the state does not fund district nutrition programs, those funds are being pulled from other designated line items in the general fund.

Both the state and districts agree that nutrition impacts student learning, and that food service programs are essential for some children who would go hungry without them. Even so, debate has gone on for years on whether it’s the state’s responsibility to subsidize school meal programs.

Change may be coming for the school funding model, however, which has district business manager Connie Gay hopeful that fewer funds will have to be transferred out of

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