Free School Lunch Program Expected to End in June
What happens to Dallastown students when the program put in place during the pandemic comes to a close?
Mrs. Susan Eckert rings up a student meal in the cafeteria. For the past two school years, student meals have been free for everyone as a part of a national program of COVID relief. That program is expected to end in June.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Spring of 2020, the Wolf Administration obtained approval from the Food and Nutrition Service of Agriculture to conduct $1 billion in federally-funded benefits to the families of approximately 1 million Pennsylvania school children who were schooling remotely.
At Dallastown, that meant that any family in our district could drive up each day to pick up free lunches. It was a welcome relief for many families.
Mrs. Susan Eckert has worked with Chartwells, our cafeteria food service provider, at Dallastown since 2009. She and her staff have seen a lot of changes since the beginning of the pandemic.
“Food supply was affected. We gave food to many families in the district and it was a long process. Anyone living in the district from ages 2-18 was allowed a meal from the school.” Eckert said.
This program extended through the course of the 2020-2021 school year, whether students were at-home learners or in-person learners.
There has always been a system in place to help families. Even with the free lunch program for everyone in the past few years, we have also continued to have families fill out paperwork for additional support. Those families will continue to get that support even when the national free lunch program ends.
— Mr. Keith Dyke
Many students who attend Dallastown feel that the free lunch program during the pandemic was helpful.
“Some families in the district had financial issues during the face of the pandemic, causing them to not be able to afford school lunches and other school payments. Free school lunches have been highly impactful and are still benefiting students as of now,” junior Maddie Sheldon said.
Although the pandemic is dying down and things are slowly going back to normal, as of right now 30 million students are still receiving free school meals, according to the USDA.
The funding for those meals is now expected to end in June. So then what?
According to Keith Dyke, Dallastown Supervisor of Social and Student Services, we basically go back to the pre-pandemic system, which should not leave families in need without help.
“There has always been a system in place to help families. Even with the free lunch program for everyone in the past few years, we have also continued to have families fill out paperwork for additional support. Those families will continue to get that support even when the national free lunch program ends,” Dyke said.
School free lunches are extended until June 2022 to wrap up the 2021-2022 school year.
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