By Bonnie Arnold at the Hill Country Community Journal, October 24, 2020
Parents and guardians of school-age children up to age 18 will be glad to know that starting Monday, Oct. 19, Kerrville ISD Child Nutrition is providing free meals to all students through the end of December.
Adriana Lupercio, the new Child Nutrition director for Kerrville ISD (KISD), said the school district received an extended grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that allows the KISD Food Service staff to feed all students up to age 18 at no cost to any of the students and their parents.
Under the former procedure in KISD and other districts, campuses would oversee an application process at the beginning of the school year; and assign qualified students as eligible for either “free” or “reduced-cost” lunches or paying full price.
This system was under the National School Lunch Program.
Under the extended grant, breakfast and lunch is being provided free to all students, not only at KISD campuses, but also to those learning “virtually” at home, through a drive-through-pick up location at the Starkey Elementary School.
“This is a great option for parents. They can breathe a sigh of relief about their kids eating; and the parents don’t have to worry about that,” Lupercio said.
She said this is similar to the “Seamless Summer Option” the food service operated last spring when KISD campuses first changed to virtual learning; and now the USDA is allowing it as the school year heads into fall and winter.
Under this extended program, Lupercio said families of students in area private schools and programs such as the K’Star Emergency Children’s Shelter also are invited to go to Starkey Elementary between 9 and 10:30 a.m. each school day to get meals.
Starkey Elementary School is located at 1030 W. Main, Kerrville.
The drivers/adults are asked to enter the rear parking lot at SES, off Harper Road, and circle past the canopy/sidewalk at the back of the cafeteria to pick up meals (one trip for both breakfast and lunch), if their student(s) are not eating on a KISD campus in person.
The meals are intended for students up to age 18, and Lupercio said if the staffs of some of the smaller private schools in Kerrville want to ask for enough for all their students, that also is allowed.
This meal distribution will officially continue until Dec. 31, the end of this calendar year.
In practical terms, this program through the KISD food service will follow the KISD school calendar.
When KISD students have holidays such as Thanksgiving week, no meals will be available at SES. And distribution will end when KISD students are released for Christmas vacation in December.
Lupercio is fairly new in her post as KISD director under the district’s contract with Chartwell’s. But longtime Food Service office assistant Melissa Aguilera got notification of this extended meal service program about six weeks ago; and got agreement from the administration to complete the packet of paperwork and send it in by the USDA deadline, for local participation.
The office phone number is 257-2215, for further information.
Also, KISD food menus for each campus can be seen online at www.kerrvilleisd.nutrislice.com.
See the original article: https://www.hccommunityjournal.com/article_5905d0da-130a-11eb-99f6-5b7ab7bfe114.html
