(The Center Square) – A key initiative of Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson to offer taxpayer-funded school meals to all Seattle public school children starting in September could be in jeopardy.
Seattle City Council President Joy Hollingsworth and Councilwoman Dionne Foster recently introduced an amendment to a resolution codifying Wilson’s plan.
Hollingsworth and Foster want to hold off on the meal program until the September 2027 school year. Instead, they want their own program to offer low-income kids meals during school holiday breaks, the summer and on weekends.
Both Hollingsworth and Foster are minorities and the two made no bones about the fact that they think a small portion of the $1.3 billion education and families levy approved by voters in 2025 should be redirected to poor kids in Seattle’s Black neighborhoods.
Hollingsworth, speaking at a City Council committee meeting on July 8, said her amendment was a matter of racial justice for Southeast Seattle, where food insecurity is highest in the city.
She said that there is only one food bank in the neighborhood that receives state and federal funding for emergency food assistance.
Hollyingworth said that she could agree because of “food insecurity”; around 51% of Black children are not reading at their grade level.
She said other issues, such as the fact that half the gun violence murder victims in Seattle are Black, in a city with a Black population of only 4%, all stem from food insecurity and other issues.
“I know that food can really heal communities,” she said. “So that’s why I go so hard for this, and that’s why I am so passionate about this amendment.”
The issue is expected to play out at a city council committee meeting on July 22, when the amendment is expected to be voted on.
Wilson’s plan is projected to cost $3 million per year over the six-year levy. It expands taxpayer-funded breakfasts and lunches to all 104 public schools in Seattle, up from about 50% currently.
Hollyingwortha and Foster’s plan takes $3 million slated from Wilson’s program in the first year and funds their own program to the tune of $500,000 a year.
Foster agreed at the council meeting that not all Seattle schoolchildren need taxpayer-funded meals.
But Wilson is not backing off her plan.
She said the taxpayer-funded meals will be a positive for school children.
“This means a better school day for students, less stigma around food insecurity, a stronger learning environment for educators, and fewer groceries families have to purchase to keep their kids healthy, ” she said in a statement to The Center Square.
She estimated that Seattle families will save roughly $1,200 per year through this program.
“Students and families at schools that don’t currently offer universal school meals are counting on us to deliver this for them this school year,” she said.