All Keystone Central students eligible for free breakfast and lunch this school year
BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP, PA – Families of students in the Keystone Central School District recently received some great news: All students will receive free breakfasts and lunches for the 2022-2023 school year. And parents/guardians will no longer have to do the paperwork.
As explained by the district, the free lunches came about through the Community Eligibility Provision, a reimbursement option for eligible school districts that wish to offer free meals to all children in high-poverty schools. While this option is not available to all school districts, the Keystone Central School District met the criteria to apply for the programming through the Pennsylvania Department of Education. KCSD will receive state and federal reimbursement for breakfasts and lunches based on the number of students directly certified by the state to receive free meals through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or medical assistance.
According to Sharon Berger, KCSD Food & Nutrition Service Supervisor, “COVID brought out food insecurity in the KCSD community. This was evidenced by several hundred thousand free community feeding meals the district served to the community and by increased student participation in the National School Breakfast and National School Lunch Programs since COVID. Offering free meals to our students through CEP will help decrease child hunger and provide all students with two nutritious meals per day throughout the upcoming school year.”
Families will not need to take any action to fill out lengthy forms as in years past disclosing family income and other data. All K-12 students that attend Keystone Central will receive FREE breakfast and lunch for the 2022-2023 school year. The district will need to apply annually for the program to continue in subsequent school years.
All students are offered a grain, a fruit and a milk for breakfast. For lunch, students are offered servings of grains, meat/meat alternates, fruit, vegetables, and milk. These meals must include fruit and the lunch option must include a vegetable. Ala carte items will still be available for purchase.
