Back to school time can be fun or stressful for students but its almost always expensive for moms and dads. However, many local families might be eligible for free or reduced price school lunches and breakfasts through the National School Lunch Program.
It is a federal program that determines eligibility based on household income, and those guidelines are set by the federal government, Laura Swier, director of child nutrition for the Brookings School District, said. Families that are interested in seeing whether they are eligible or not must complete a free and reduced price application each year. With that being said, for our district we can now complete them online.
Applications can be found at the child nutrition page of the Brookings School District website, through a program called EduTrak.
Theres three different things I like to highlight with EduTrak, Swier said. You can check your family balance and see your student transaction, you can make a payment online and you can apply for free and reduced price meals. So its kind of a one stop shop for our department.
New users of EduTrak need a key code to set up an account. To receive that key or for details on how to complete the registration families should email [email protected].
Families can create an account and complete the application through there, and then well be notified of their eligibility. And they receive notice whether they are eligible for free, reduced or if they are denied benefits because their income is too high, Swier said. We were just hopeful to reach more families, and they can complete the application from the comfort of their own home, and get it submitted and get it to my office,
She said between 22-23 percent of families in Brookings are eligible each year.
The reimbursement that is received, for somebody that receives a free meal, those are federal dollars that are received back, Swier said. One thing I do want to note also is anybody that is eligible for the reduced price meal for our school district and this is not everywhere but for our school district, anybody eligible for reduced price meals receives their meals for free.
The National School Lunch Program dates back to 1946 but has evolved over the years. USDA reported the program provided 4.6 billion free or reduced meals to children in America last year.
Weve seen several changes. Honestly, theres different nutrition standards and whatnot that are always coming about that we have to implement in the meals we serve, Swier said. And for our district, we aim for high quality. I mean first and foremost food safety, and high quality, and nutrition for the students.
She said they try to go above and beyond the minimum federal requirements.
To be in compliance with making a meal, the students must have a half a cup of fruit or fruit juice at breakfast on their tray. And for lunch, they must have half a cup of fruit and/or vegetable on their tray, Swier said. With the federal rules, we only need to offer one fruit and one vegetable each day. But we like to make sure students are being offered something that they will enjoy with their meal, so we offer a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. And students, they select those on their own.
For students not receiving free or reduced price meals, lunch costs in Brookings this year will be $3.20 for grades K-5, $3.40 for grades 6-8, and $3.45 for grades 9-12. Breakfasts are $2.30 for all students. The school offers a la carte options as well.
There again, there are restrictions or limitations as far as what we can offer within our a la carte calories, sodium, sugar, Swier said. If a family is eligible for free or reduced price meals, they still can take a la carte.
She said she and her staff are busy both preparing for the start of the school year and helping to process applications.
We want families to apply so theres no hiccup in the benefits, Swier said. We can process applications all throughout the school year. So anytime a family can submit an application and it will be processed to determine eligibility.
In addition to normal back to school work, she said her staff is preparing to move into the new Hillcrest and Medary elementary schools. Hillcrest will have a partial prep kitchen and Medary will have a full production kitchen this fall.
Were excited to have students back, Swier said. We have on the back of our t-shirts I Feed Bobcats. We wear that with pride, and we are excited to feed our Bobcats once again this year.
Email Jay Roe at[email protected].
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