School is scheduled to begin on August 17 and this year there are some big changes to the breakfast and lunch programs. Director, Tonya Jones stopped by Castle Country Radio to let listeners know about the changes this year.
The district the last two years has been able to offer free lunch because of COVID funding that was received but that now has run out. So the district is encouraging all families to apply for free/reduced lunch. “We haven’t had to deal with a lot of the free, or we had the free and now we don’t have the free. So the prices, we are going to be charging for breakfast and lunch this year because we don’t have that free. So we would like everybody that can put in an application for free/reduced lunches,” stated Jones. The district would like everyone to apply whether you think you won’t qualify or not.
The applications are used to determine financial assistance for each of the schools, so the more applicants that apply the better it is for the district and its students. “Yes, like Title I, for our aids, that comes from that. Also, we need the CSD grants, various programs, the community grants, any of those around are affected by these free/reduced applications that come in,” explained Jones. To apply for free/reduced lunch you can visit the Carbon School District website to access the application. There is no deadline to apply but the district encourages families to apply as soon as possible.
The cost for breakfast and lunch has slightly increased this year. “So elementary breakfast is $1.50, lunch is $2.00. For the middle school, it’s a $1.75 and lunch is $2.25. At the high school, breakfast is $2.00 and lunch is $2.50,” said Jones. All of the prices are very affordable and a nutritious meal is always provided.
If parents would like to see a menu of meals they may do so online. “Elementary is pretty much the same. The high school and junior high have more options. But they can find that on the website, they can also can in the family portal where they go to apply for the free/reduced, there’s also a place in there that you can also find the menus in there. So we do have several places that you can find them and they’re pretty easy to access,” explained Jones.
Questions or concerns please feel free to contact Carbon School District at (435) 613-3133.