By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
For a limited time, this summer, students will be able to get free meals from several schools in the St. Joseph School District.
Through a waiver granted by the USDA, the school district offered free breakfast and lunch through the last two years of the pandemic.
Food Service Department Coordinator Becky Schoeneck says she saw a big increase in the number of meals given out.
"It just became more available for everybody and it just made it easier for kids to get access to meals, especially right now with food shortages, it provides them with a healthy hot meal that they can get," Schoeneck tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post.
The free meals are available to students 18 and younger. It is also not required they be a part of the St. Joseph School District.
The St. Joseph School District will offer free breakfast and lunch for a limited time this summer.
Food Service Department Coordinator Becky Schoeneck [Shaw-nick] says providing these meals for students helps use all the food the district got through the year.
"So, it's still all the same choices so they still get that good quality food that they're used to during the school year," Schoeneck says. "But it does allow us to still provide some of those student favorites, like we still do chicken nuggets, we still do pizza, we do all those popular choices for them."
The waiver expires June 30th which will also be the last day free meals will be available in the district.
"So, for next school year we'll be going back to kind of business as usual where we will need families to fill out lunch applications in order for them to either be qualified for free or reduced meals," Schoeneck explains.
Those applications will be available starting July 1st for parents in the district to fill out.
Students that attend Community Eligibility Provision schools will not need to fill out an application. You can contact the school district for more information.