Washington County schools to continue free lunch programs

Washington, Highland and Mid-Prairie school districts all plan to continue providing free lunches to all students this school year, after the USDA approved applications to a nationwide waiver program.

“The Food and Nutrition Service is establishing a waiver to allow the National School Lunch Program Seamless Summer Option (SSO) to operate when school is open during the regular school year, through June 30, 2022,” a memo from the department said. “This waiver is expected to support access to nutritious meals while minimizing potential exposure to the novel coronavirus.”

Washington Superintendent Willie Stone said the waiver would help families at a difficult time.

“With the pandemic going on, that’s part of the government’s way to help provide resources for parents to be able to feed their kids without having to worry about it,” he said.

Highland Food and Nutrition Director Rachel Cerny said that while free meals would be available to all students, potentially eligible families still should fill out free and reduced meal applications.

“The information is used for multiple programs, including the P-EBT cards,” she said in a statement. “Data from the applications are used in determining school nutrition funding and grant eligibility. The application is completely confidential.”