The lunch programs in which Wayland Union Schools serve St. Therese, St. Stanislaus and Moline Christian schools may be in danger of being eliminated.

The reason is the same as for any program threatened with termination — money.

Bill Melching, director of finance and operations for Wayland Union Schools, said the district has served notice to all three that in order to continue, the program must be self-supporting.

“The district has reviewed the food service operations of all of the parochial schools that we have served in past years,” Melching said. “We have informed all of them that their programs must be self-supporting (revenues generated must cover the cost of running the program).

“We have offered to work with each of them to assure their program is self-supporting.”

Melching added that St. Stanislaus has decided to terminate its food service joint program, but the public schools continue to work with St. Therese and Moline Christian. He said the final decision will be made jointly between each school and WUS.

So negotiations for Wayland and Moline and St. Therese schools continue.

St. Therese School Principal Jane Gee said, “We are working with them to try to find a solution. We are open to new ideas and this is something that we would like to see work for both sides.”

If the decision is made not to continue with the joint food service program, Melching said, then the direction to on how to proceed in the future will be left to each school.

When asked if a program is required to make ends meet financially in order to survive, Melching replied, “There is no requirement that a program make money but the district did not feel that WUS should absorb any shortfall of a food service program it was running on behalf of another school. The regulations allow us to work with parochial schools as it relates to food service but there is not requirement to do so.”

St. Therese and Wayland Union have had a long-standing agreement on busing students, but the food service arrangement hasn’t been around for as long.

“We would love to continue our lunch program with Wayland,” Gee said. “It’s been a very good relationship.”