With the end of the school year just around the corner, area school districts are preparing to keep cafeteria doors open next month with the goal of ensuring students stay fed through the summer holiday.
For many students, free summer meal programs may be the difference between eating a hot meal for lunch and going hungry for the day.
“We have a pretty significant percentage – over 75% – of our students (who) qualify for free and reduced lunch, and that number is based on income,” Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Communications Director Haley Montgomery said. “Just speaking in realistic terms, we have students who rely on our school meals during the school year for (nutrition) and the assurance of meal security. So it’s really important for us to be able to meet those needs some during the summer.”
SOCSD will resume its typical summer feeding schedule on June 2, serving breakfast from 7:45 to 9:30 a.m. and lunch from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Meals will be served on weekdays until June 27. No meals will be served June 19, as the district will be closed for Juneteenth.
Any child younger than 18 is eligible for a free meal, and adults can purchase a meal at a reduced price, Montgomery said.
Montgomery said the district is still trying to determine which school cafeteria will host the summer meal program. While it has been held at Henderson Ward Stewart in the past, it may be moved to allow for summer maintenance projects, she said.
Montgomery said the program has a large impact each year, especially because being a student within the district is not a requirement to receive a meal.
“We typically will serve just individual families, and then we have a few summer programs, childcare programs who come in and eat on certain days too,” she said. “So it’s a good environment for families.”
Columbus Municipal School District will serve free meals from June 2 to July 2, Nutrition Director Mia Johnson told The Dispatch. If this summer is anything like the last, she expects the district will serve about 28,000 meals during that month.
“It is (a huge impact), and we really look forward to it. … We’re just trying to get the word out because we really want the kids to come out and get something to eat,” she said. “… This should help out (with making) sure each child has a nourishing meal each day because we don’t want any child to go hungry just because school is out.”
Breakfast will be served each weekday from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. followed by lunch from 11 a.m. to noon. Aside from Franklin Academy, Union Success Academy and Hunt, each of the district’s schools will serve food this summer.
Johnson said any child younger than 18 is eligible for the free meals even if they aren’t a student in the district.
“If there are daycares out there that want to come or people with summer programs that want to just bring your kids, that would be great,” she said. “We’re welcoming them to come in. “
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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