Caregiver meals at Austin-area schools
Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2020 4:19 pm
Dear Colleagues,
I want to alert you to a resolution and budget amendment you will find on our Council addendum for the May 7, 2020, meeting. The resolution and companion budget amendment propose an allocation of currently unencumbered CARES Act funds for the purposes of providing caregiver meals at school distribution meal sites in the Austin area.
My office has worked in close coordination with the Social Services Cabinet, Austin ISD, and other community advocates to bring forward this proposal for Council consideration. I am confident that this approach is an effective strategy to leverage our public dollars to help families access food at existing community hubs during this unprecedented crisis. I would like to thank my co-sponsors: Council Member Kitchen, Council Member Harper-Madison, Council Member Casar, and Mayor Adler for their support.
The original conception for the resolution was to allocate funds for Austin ISD to resume caregiver meals and to continue engaging other ISDs to gauge their interest in a similar partnership. Per conversations at the Social Services Cabinet, this engagement with other ISDs was currently underway and at the time of drafting, we had not received concrete responses from other ISDs.
After I had secured co-sponsors, Del Valle ISD responded to the City’s survey and expressed an interest in possibly serving caregiver meals. I attempted to bifurcate the Austin ISD and Del Valle VISD budget allocations separately so I could invite the Council Members who represent Del Valle VISD to co-sponsor this allocation.
Unfortunately, I was advised of sub-quorum issues with this approach. Due to the urgent issues our families are facing, especially regarding food access, I felt uncomfortable waiting for staff to return to Council with a possible allocation for Del Valle ISD at the next meeting on May 21. Currently, the budget amendment on the agenda would allocate funding for caregiver meals at both Austin ISD and Del Valle ISD in the event that Council approves that plan.
I want to use this forum to acknowledge the consistent advocacy of my colleagues, Mayor Pro Tem Garza and Council Member Renteria, on behalf of Del Valle ISD and increased food access issues more generally and to articulate my deep desire to have included them in this work if quorum rules would have allowed. Please let me know if either of you would like me to use a different approach for Del Valle ISD – for example, if you would like to bring forward a separate budget amendment modeled after this one with different co-sponsors, I could amend mine so that they don’t overlap. Another alternative is that you may be able to add yourselves in a public meeting as official co-sponsors (which is something we have done on limited occasions).
To my other colleagues, please feel free to relay any questions about this proposal in this thread or in the Q&A. I look forward to discussing further on Tuesday.
Best,
Kathie
I want to alert you to a resolution and budget amendment you will find on our Council addendum for the May 7, 2020, meeting. The resolution and companion budget amendment propose an allocation of currently unencumbered CARES Act funds for the purposes of providing caregiver meals at school distribution meal sites in the Austin area.
My office has worked in close coordination with the Social Services Cabinet, Austin ISD, and other community advocates to bring forward this proposal for Council consideration. I am confident that this approach is an effective strategy to leverage our public dollars to help families access food at existing community hubs during this unprecedented crisis. I would like to thank my co-sponsors: Council Member Kitchen, Council Member Harper-Madison, Council Member Casar, and Mayor Adler for their support.
The original conception for the resolution was to allocate funds for Austin ISD to resume caregiver meals and to continue engaging other ISDs to gauge their interest in a similar partnership. Per conversations at the Social Services Cabinet, this engagement with other ISDs was currently underway and at the time of drafting, we had not received concrete responses from other ISDs.
After I had secured co-sponsors, Del Valle ISD responded to the City’s survey and expressed an interest in possibly serving caregiver meals. I attempted to bifurcate the Austin ISD and Del Valle VISD budget allocations separately so I could invite the Council Members who represent Del Valle VISD to co-sponsor this allocation.
Unfortunately, I was advised of sub-quorum issues with this approach. Due to the urgent issues our families are facing, especially regarding food access, I felt uncomfortable waiting for staff to return to Council with a possible allocation for Del Valle ISD at the next meeting on May 21. Currently, the budget amendment on the agenda would allocate funding for caregiver meals at both Austin ISD and Del Valle ISD in the event that Council approves that plan.
I want to use this forum to acknowledge the consistent advocacy of my colleagues, Mayor Pro Tem Garza and Council Member Renteria, on behalf of Del Valle ISD and increased food access issues more generally and to articulate my deep desire to have included them in this work if quorum rules would have allowed. Please let me know if either of you would like me to use a different approach for Del Valle ISD – for example, if you would like to bring forward a separate budget amendment modeled after this one with different co-sponsors, I could amend mine so that they don’t overlap. Another alternative is that you may be able to add yourselves in a public meeting as official co-sponsors (which is something we have done on limited occasions).
To my other colleagues, please feel free to relay any questions about this proposal in this thread or in the Q&A. I look forward to discussing further on Tuesday.
Best,
Kathie