Now through the end of December, meals in the Chadron Public Schools are free to all students – regardless of family income.
Superintendent Ginger Meyer says the 3-½ months of free meals is made possible by using money from the federal CARES Act coronavirus relief package to extend the Summer Meal Program.
CARE funds must be spent by the end of the year and Meyer says the USDA recently ruled that money can be used to carry the free summer meals into the school year.
Both breakfast and lunch will be free through the school food program, although seconds and ala carte items will be charged to a student’s account.
Meyer emphasizes that while parents don’t need to do anything to take advantage of the free meals through December, the Chadron district needs them to continue to fill out the forms for the free and reduced lunch program
That’s because the number or percentage of students in a school or district qualifying for free or reduced price meals is used to determine eligibility for a variety of other programs.