Giving Compass' Take:

• Amelia Harper, writing for Education Dive, discusses the implications of the government shutdown as it pertains to both school administrators and funding for the National School Lunch Program. 

• Fortunately, the National School Lunch Program will be funded until March if the government is still shut down, but after that schools will need support. What alternative funding programs could help them?

• Read about how the government shutdown affects farmers. 

As the nation continues to deal with the longest partial federal government shutdown in history, most school leaders aren't very concerned about how school operations will be affected this year since the U.S. Department of Education is funded during the shutdown, Education Week reports.

School leaders also need to consider the direct impact the shutdown is having on students whose parents are in the military, are federal employees, or work in businesses affected by the loss of income those employees are facing, preparing to offer practical help in the form of clothing closets or food pantries, access to community resources, and emotional support and understanding.

Schools are fortunate during the current federal shutdown that the Department of Education is funded for now, and that schools have or will receive most of their federal funding for the current year.

However, the potential impact of the loss of funding for the National School Lunch Program in March will cause headaches for school district leaders as they scramble to find alternative sources of funding in order to keep students fed — especially as these students may be facing greater hardships at home because of the shutdown.

There is time for this crisis to be averted, but since there has been little movement on the shutdown so far, school leaders may want to consider alternative sources of funding if it extends until March. School lunch programs usually have their own separate budget within the overall school budget.

If properly managed, these programs may have healthy fund balances that can carry them through the end of the school year. Otherwise, districts may be forced to dip into general fund balances or seek additional state or local funds to keep the program running.

Read the full article about government shutdown by Amelia Harper at Education Dive