Students attending Meriden Public Schools will be provided breakfast and lunch at no charge beginning next school year.
Meriden’s Board of Education approved the measure to expand the program providing free meals from the five schools it currently serves to all 12 of the district’s schools.
Parents at Meriden’s Israel-Putnam Elementary School told NBC Connecticut that knowing their kids have breakfast and lunch waiting for them at school helps them financially.
The savings add up, said Heather Volpe, whose daughter Lacie attends third grade at the school.
Meriden’s Board of Education knows there is real need in their community. More than 70 percent of students qualify for free or reduced meals, according to Susan Maffe, Director of Food and Nutrition Services for Meriden Public Schools. The high number of students qualified Meriden for the USDA’s Community Eligibility Program, allowing the school district to fully fund the meal program with federal dollars.
In erasing the need for payment, Maffe said administrators also hope to erase the stigma for those students who struggle to pay. Right now, middle and high school students have their outstanding balance checked in the school lunch line, a practice Maffe said may discourage needy students from getting line.
Carre Brown, who has two children enrolled at Israel-Putnam, felt the program there has been successful putting children there on a level playing field.
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“You don’t want a little kid sitting there who’s upset or feeling shy because they don’t have the same meal as someone else… I think that’s great that everyone gets the same thing,” she said.
Maffe said the district hopes to keep providing breakfast and lunch at no charge for as long as the federal funding remains available.
