All Coweta County School System students will be able to receive free school breakfast and lunches starting Monday, September 14, through a temporary expansion of federal nutrition funding.
The USDA has provided funding and waivers of school nutrition to provide free student meals through December 31, or until funding for the program ends.
These free meals are not only available daily to in-person students, but also to all CCSS Empower or Hybrid students. To participate in the Empower or Hybrid curbside meal pick-up, parents can sign up students online on school websites (or by going here). Those participating in curbside pickup will be able to pick up 5 breakfasts and 5 lunches each Monday curbside from their base school.
Parents of online students can check their school’s website or call the school’s cafeteria for pick-up times. Students who are signed up will not have to be present for parents to pick-up the meals.
District employee and adult school meals and additional student meals (beyond one breakfast and lunch per day) will still need to be paid for under the program.
The USDA program is an expansion of the Seamless Summer Option meal program, which was expanded in response to the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic. Coweta Schools participated in the program this summer, and provided over 100,000 meals to Coweta children in the spring and summer.
School Food Nutrition Director Keshia Williams said that while all students will be eligible under the expanded fall program, parents who may be eligible for Free and Reduced-Price meals should still sign up for the program online.
“Once this expansion ends, meals will then be sold regularly, and it will be important to have a student’s eligibility for the Free and Reduced Price program established,” said Williams.
Parents should complete the application for Free or Reduced-Price meals by September 24, which is the previous year’s approval grace-period deadline.