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Trimble Local Schools Free Lunches
By: Paola Santiago
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Children at Trimble Local and Federal Hocking schools and are now guranteed to go to classes with a full stomach.
All students in these districts are now able to have free lunch through the Community Eligibilty Provision. According to the US Department of Agriculture, this program allows schools that mostly serve low-income children to give out free and healthy meals to their students.
Before, Trimble Local and Federal Hocking were only offering free breakfast.
According to Trimble Middle School Principal, Danita Glenn, any additional meal items can be purchased throug the students' school account.
The purpose of the program is to make sure children aren't hungry while attending school or going to class, Glenn said, and financial barriers in terms of school lunch are no longer there. Parents have responded very positively to the new change.
The Athens Messenger reports that there was an increase of 1,306 lunches in the district served in August. This is approxiamately an increase of 100 school lunches served each day during the same period last year.
The CEP program recognizes districts with a certain number of "identified" students, meaning at an unstable economic or poverty level, Glenn said.
The Athens Messenger reports more than 58 percent of students in Trimble Local are considered identified.
The program was worked on over the summer and was implemented in time for the new school year.
"It's the best way to use tax payer money I've ever seen," Glenn said, "Feed the kids!"