Students in Henry County’s public schools will have access to free meals through the end of 2020 due to the extension of a program that operated during the COVID-19 shutdown.
Throughout the spring and summer, the district’s nutrition department served families who stopped by feeding stations once a week to pick up five breakfasts and five lunches. This service was free of charge until August 17 when the 2020-2021 school year began.
Last week officials announced that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is providing temporary relief and extending waivers to school districts that participated in the Summer Food Service Program and Seamless Summer Option in order to provide free meals for students locally and all across the nation. That includes Henry County Schools.
According to the announcement, the support for school meals will run through December 31 or until the earmarked funds are exhausted, whichever comes first.
“We are so appreciative of the USDA for extending these waivers to school nutrition programs like ours,” said Kantrell Brown, executive director of the district’s nutrition department. “We can return to providing five lunches and five breakfasts for free to all students in our district regardless of eligibility requirements.”
Some students are returning to campus beginning this week after the conclusion of fall break, but the free meals are available to any student whether on campus or continuing in the district’s remote learning program.
Brown said that meal pickup for remote learners will continue every Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., but they will be able to pick up their food directly from their regular schools instead of having to utilize one of the 10 distribution sites under the previous system. Students who are returning to campus and choosing the school lunch and breakfast choices will receive those daily from the cafeteria.
All remote learners will still need to log on to MySchool Bucks.com to pre-order their meal plans each week between Thursday and Monday.
District leaders encourage those families believing they qualify for free or reduced-price meals to complete the online application by September 30. This support for families will be needed for when the temporary federal assistance ends at the end of the year. The free and reduced lunch application can be completed using the Infinite Campus Parent Portal.
