Credit: Courtesy of American Red Cross

Red Cross volunteers help pass out breakfast at Los Angeles Unified schools. The U.South. Department of Agriculture announced Tuesday information technology will reimburse districts for free meals served to all students next year.

Credit: Courtesy of American Blood-red Cross

Red Cantankerous volunteers help pass out breakfast at Los Angeles Unified schools. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Tuesday it volition reimburse districts for free meals served to all students next year.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will proceed reimbursing schools and childcare centers for gratuitous meals to all students regardless of their income through the 2021-22 schoolhouse year, USDA officials announced Tuesday.

Meal service waivers such every bit the "Seamless Summer Choice," which made information technology possible for California districts to distribute millions of grab-and-become meals to students since campuses airtight due to Covid-19, volition be extended through June 2022, according to a USDA news release. Advocates say the extension comes at a pivotal time for nutrient-insecure families.

"At a time when millions of families go along to confront financial strain, hunger and hardship, these waivers let schools to achieve more than kids with the food they need," said Lisa Davis, senior vice president of national child hunger arrangement Share Our Strength. "With them, schools are able to cutting through scarlet tape and allow kids to eat for gratuitous."

In improver to the flexibility of not having to check students' income eligibility for free meals, districts are able to fix up flexible repast times based on student schedules and needs. Districts tin also serve meals to students outside normal school hours and deliver meals to students' homes or other places instead of requiring them to choice up food at schools.

"States and districts wanted waivers extended to program for safe reopening in the fall; USDA answered the phone call to help America'south schools and childcare institutions serve loftier quality meals while existence responsive to their local needs as children safely return to their regular routines," USDA Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a news release. "This action likewise increases the reimbursement rate to school meal operators so they tin can serve healthy foods to our kids. It'south a win-win for kids, parents and schools."

Typically, districts are only reimbursed for gratuitous meals served to students who qualify for and participate in the USDA's National Schoolhouse Lunch Program. Statewide, iii.9 million students, 63% of California's student body, participated in the program in the 2019-2020 schoolhouse year.

Merely some district officials and kid hunger experts say the number of families in demand of food aid both in the Due east Bay and throughout the state is actually much higher. That's because many families avoid the National Schoolhouse Lunch Program'south awarding procedure out of embarrassment or privacy concerns.

Non having to check students' eligibility fabricated serving grab-and-get meals during the pandemic much easier for districts similar Fresno Unified Schoolhouse District, which served around 20,000 meals a mean solar day during the summer of 2020, Primary Operations Officeholder Karin Temple said.

Davis, of Share our Force, said extending the waivers now gives schools time to accordingly plan and budget for next year's meal programs, and so they can operate "effectively, efficiently and with the stability needed to support local economies."

Advocates are pushing at the state and federal level to make universal gratis meals a permanent fixture at schools. State Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, introduced SB 364 concluding month, which would ensure free meals for all students starting in the 2022-23 schoolhouse yr. The pecker was heard by the Senate's Human Services Committee Tuesday afternoon.

"When Oakland Unified Schoolhouse District offered free meals, our participation numbers increased, providing much needed acquirement," said Oakland Unified superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell in a statement supporting SB 364. "More importantly, families from all income groups told us they have come to rely on these meals as a reliable source of nutrition for their kids."

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