Kids will eat free in Clarke schools

Kids will eat free in Clarke schools 

By Lee Shearer

Fri April 17,2015

Athens Banner Herald

More Clarke County students will be eating breakfast and lunch in schools next year. Pending Board of Education approval, the Clarke County School District will take advantage of a new “community eligibility provision” the U.S. Department of Agriculture began offering in Georgia last year.

The provision allows school districts with high levels of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches to dispense with the paperwork and screening that some students have to complete to show they’re eligible for the program.

Joining the program will be more meals served daily — some 5 to 7 percent more breakfasts, and about 10 percent more lunches, said Ted Gilbert, Clarke County’s associate superintendent for district services.

Because the USDA reimburses the school district for meals served, serving the additional meals will not mean additional costs for the school district, Clarke County Schools Superintendent Philip Lanoue told Clarke County Board of Education members at a recent meeting.

Schools where more than 40 percent of students qualify for free lunches can get into the program. In Clarke County, the percentage of students who qualify for free lunches ranges from a low of about 41 percent at one school to as much as 76 percent, according to Georgia Department of Education statistics. More than 80 percent of Clarke County students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. But some don’t participate because they don’t fill out paperwork because of embarrassment or other reasons, Gilbert said.

The universal program removes the stigma of free lunch that students may feel, said Paula Farmer, director of school nutrition for the Clarke County School District.

“The tremendous result is more students eating properly and eating regularly,” Lanoue said.

“I can’t think of one negative,” Farmer said.

The change would be permanent, unless USDA policy changes in the future, she said.

None of the school districts in Georgia that entered the program have come out of it, Farmer said. As of Sept. 1, 2014, 72 Georgia school districts had enrolled in the program, according to the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service website.

The program seems to be working well in other school districts that have already moved into it, said Susan Cheshire, executive director of the Georgia School Nutrition Association.

Some, like Clarke County, had held back because of concerns that joining might have an effect on other federally funded programs. 

More children get nutritious daily meals, and administering the program is less time-consuming for local workers, she said.

“To my knowledge it’s been extremely positive,” she said. “So far it’s proven to be a very beneficial program.”

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