Post by Logan on May 3, 2016 22:38:15 GMT -6
Hawaii DOE expanding free meals program to include 30 schools
An estimated 17,000 public school students would be eligible to receive free meals at their schools regardless of their family’s ability to pay, under plans announced today by the state Department of Education to expand a pilot program that launched last fall.
The number of participating schools will increase fourfold to 30 schools on six islands from seven pilot schools on three islands this year.
By providing free meals for entire schools, the program aims to increase access to nutritious school meals by helping remove the stigma for low-income children to participate.
The meals are provided through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Community Eligibility Program, which allows schools serving high-poverty areas to participate in the National School Lunch Program without having to collect and process individual meal applications. Eligibility is instead determined by relying on information from other programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps, and the Temporary Assistance Program for Needy Families, or welfare.
Read more: www.staradvertiser.com/breaking-news/hawaii-public-schools-expanding-free-meals-program-to-include-30-campuses/
An estimated 17,000 public school students would be eligible to receive free meals at their schools regardless of their family’s ability to pay, under plans announced today by the state Department of Education to expand a pilot program that launched last fall.
The number of participating schools will increase fourfold to 30 schools on six islands from seven pilot schools on three islands this year.
By providing free meals for entire schools, the program aims to increase access to nutritious school meals by helping remove the stigma for low-income children to participate.
The meals are provided through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Community Eligibility Program, which allows schools serving high-poverty areas to participate in the National School Lunch Program without having to collect and process individual meal applications. Eligibility is instead determined by relying on information from other programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps, and the Temporary Assistance Program for Needy Families, or welfare.
Read more: www.staradvertiser.com/breaking-news/hawaii-public-schools-expanding-free-meals-program-to-include-30-campuses/