The cost of school lunches, especially for families with multiple children, can be a challenge, but that will no longer be a problem for the families in Jones County.
Board of Education members took the final step at their June 11 meeting to approve Jones County Schools’ participation in the Community Eligibility Provision program. That vote means all students will receive breakfast and lunch at no charge at all Jones County Schools for the next five years.
In a word, that is huge. Becoming eligible for the Federal CEP program, however, is far from automatic and happened in Jones County due to the efforts of the Director of School Nutrition Matoshia Grant.
The free and reduced lunch program under Title One is not the way school systems qualify for CEP, but Grant said when Jones County’s data hit its highest numbers of students ever, it got her to thinking.
“That data tickled my brain that it was time to do CEP,” she said.
Grant said school systems qualify for CEP based on the number of children enrolled who are receiving food stamps, TANF and Medicaid. She said it was the number of students who receive Medicaid that pushed Jones County over the threshold to qualify.
The director said she requested and received lists from the state with names of children receiving those benefits. She had to take those lists and match the names with students enrolled in Jones County Schools.
Grant started the process in December, and the deadline for completion was the last weekday of March. She said they were not clean lists, but she made her way through them.
The next step was a validation review by the area consultant.
“The Department of Education reviewed the information. They needed some clarification, but it ended with approval,” Grant said.
Jones County School Superintendent Charles Lundy received a letter from the GDOE May 22 announcing the completion of the validation CEP review. The program has a four-year cycle with an additional grace year.
The director explained that school nutrition is a totally self-funded department with the only money received being from the federal government. The funds received are based on the numbers of children who are fed.
Grant said having the free meals for the students will allow her department to focus only on feeding children with no worries about collecting money. She said she wants parents to understand that the quality of the meals will increase because of the additional time to plan and prepare the meals.
The director said surveys were sent out to families asking what kind of food the students would like to eat.
“I asked what I can do to get your child in here to eat with me,” she said.
Last year ended with students owing $12,000 in lunch charges. Grant said Michelle Craddock and the pickleball league worked throughout the year to help pay down those bills.
“Thank you for those donations,” she said.
Grant was happy to say that starting the 2024-25 school year, the slate is clean, and students owe no money. She noted that adults will still pay for their meals.
The director said some improvements are already planned. She said Jones County High School will have a full salad bar. Instead of ice cream this year, there will be slushy machines with 100 percent fruit juice. A-la -carte items will also be available.
She said the high school has a new pizza oven, and pizza will be a lunch item every day in the cafeteria. The Black Top Café at JCHS will have quick-grab lunch items, and breakfast items will be on carts in the hallways of schools for drop-offs to be able to grab a biscuit.
“We are trying to get meals into every student,” she said.
Grant said breakfast items will include a hot sandwich, yogurt pack, cereal or cereal bars. For students bringing their lunch, a pack pal is offered containing vegetables and cheese for a supplement. She said milk goes with all items.
The monthly menu for breakfast and lunch for Jones County schools will be available on the school nutrition website.
Grant said parents have requested bottled water, and that will be made available at a small charge with the accompanying flavorings free with the purchase.
She said the summer feeding program is underway at the high school with breakfast and lunch served. The hours of operation are 7:30 a.m. to noon. Those meals are always free but must be eaten there.
Grant said the most important thing she would like parents to know is the quality of the meals will still be there. She said the purpose of the free breakfast and lunch program is to help take the burden off families to pay for the meals.
The director added that it also helps reduce the paperwork for schools.
Her reflection on the effort it took to qualify for CEP was simple.
“It was very much worth the labor,” Grant concluded.
