The South Jeolla-Gwangju Special City has decided to allocate the necessary funding through a supplementary budget to support free school meals.
Vice Mayor for Balanced Development Baek Seung-ju held a briefing at the Muan government complex Wednesday, announcing that the city had "decided to provide this year's free school meal budget through the second supplementary budget, giving top priority to stable meal support for students."
The city had been unable to allocate 16.9 billion won ($12.8 million) of its share of the free school meal costs within the regular budget cycle, and plans to include the amount in a supplementary budget after consulting with the metropolitan office of education.
While the exact size of the supplementary budget was not disclosed, the city said that reflecting even part of the 16.9 billion won would be sufficient to ensure uninterrupted free meal support for the remainder of the year.
The remaining funds needed for next year will be determined through further consultations with the education office and incorporated into the budget accordingly.
The free school meal program is jointly funded by the special city, autonomous district governments and the metropolitan office of education.
Gwangju's total school meal budget for this year stands at 157.6 billion won, covering food costs, operating expenses, eco-friendly agricultural ingredients and non-GMO food items. The metropolitan government bears 45.7 percent of the total, district governments 6.2 percent and the education office 48.1 percent.
The city's share for this year amounts to 69.3 billion won. After informing the education office that it could not allocate 16.9 billion won of that amount, concerns arose that school meal services could be suspended.
"Even amid difficult fiscal conditions, we hold a firm conviction and sense of responsibility that students' health and the stable operation of school meals must not be disrupted," Baek said. "We will work closely with the city's office of education so that students can focus on school life with peace of mind."
sij@heraldcorp.com
