October 13, 2022 |
Carbon County School District One reports no major issues with the discontinuation of free school lunches.
Students across the county are once again required to pay for their school meals after the Department of Agriculture’s Free Breakfast and Lunch Program expired. From March of 2020 to June 30th of this year, students had their school lunches provided for them, free of charge, regardless of income. Parents will have to cover the cost of their children’s school meals for the first time since COVID-19 struck.
Tamera Ratcliff, the Food Service Director for CCSD1, said there has been a large decrease of students opting-in to school lunch. She has served more lunches on average this year, however, than before the program went into effect.
Pictured above: File photo of Carbon County School District One office. Photo by Cali O’Hare/Bigfoot 99.
Many CCSD1 students may have developed a taste for Ratcliff’s cooking over the last two years. Not all paying for their meals.
With parents opening their purse strings again, Ratcliff said the number of unpaid lunches is adding up. She encourages families to sign up for payment assistance, even if they no longer qualify for free meals.
Some people worry that the schools will stop serving students with overdue lunch balances. Food Supervisor Ratcliff said she won’t turn away a child because their parents can’t or won’t pay. She said it isn’t the kid’s fault.
In Saratoga, a mobile food vendor has promised to donate a portion of their income to cover unpaid student lunches. Ratcliff said the people of their school district have also pitched in to make sure the children are fed.
CCSD1 Superintendent Mike Hamel said the district is pointing families toward government assistance programs that help pay for school meals.
Even with inflation driving up the cost of everyday items, especially food, things in the district are returning to the way they were before the pandemic.
