Staff members at this Phoenix charter school are paying out of pocket to help feed students

Staff members at a Phoenix charter school are paying out of pocket to help feed students.

City View High School, which has over 50 students enrolled, receives funding from the nonprofit Arizona Center for Youth Resources. Many of those students come from low-income backgrounds and can’t afford lunch.

Principal Laura Metcalfe says the school did participate in the National School Lunch Program but withdrew over reimbursement and debt problems.

Metcalfe says the issue existed before she joined the school.

“But since we only have 53 students and our charter is held by a non-profit organization that has to fundraise on their own to bring in income, our budget is limited and small. And so we are looking to expand that but it's been challenging," she said.

She says there’s still an effort to address the needs.

“They are looking to expand the budget, and they're trying to find alternative sources of funding to help implement a consistent and reliable lunch program at this time," she said.

The school is receiving some assistance, including donations from the St. Mary’s Food Bank.