BUTTE — Don’t we all know somebody who is really grouchy to be around if they are "hangry"?
Now imagine if you’re in a school full of kids who are food insecure and may not have access to school lunch. Well, the Butte School District has come up with a way to solve that problem by adding several schools to a free lunch program fund through the US Department of Education.
It's 11:07 a.m. and just after the bell rings, seventh-graders flood the lunchroom. Many sit with lunches they brought from home but a majority line up for hot lunch options.
"I’m eating some pizza, some Jell-O, and some chips with chocolate milk," says Bridger Stearns, a seventh grader at East Middle School. "It, like, is a good refresher and it helps you, especially with your focus in school."
Stearns is one of over 250 middle schoolers taking a lunch break at East Middle School. This year he and his peers won’t be charged for meals thanks to the US Department of Agriculture’s meal service option for school districts in low-income areas.
"There’s been a few times that myself and the rest of the ladies have noticed a child sitting at a table not eating because, you know, they’re worried about their bill racking up or something. It feels wonderful to see everybody eat and, yeah, not have to have that worry," says Lacy Garcia, a cook at East Middle School.
"Boy, it’s huge, you know—our kids here in this town are hungry. You know there’s a lot of poverty. So I think, you know, right now adding three more schools, having seven, I think it definitely helps our community, our families. You know, times are tough," says Kurt Marthaller, the director of central services for the Butte School District.
Marthaller says he and his team were able to secure funding for three additional schools including Whittier Elementary School, Butte High School, and East, bringing the total of schools receiving the Community Eligibility Program from the USDA to seven in Butte School District #1.
According to the USDA's website, the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) allows free meal service for breakfast and lunch for schools and school districts in low-income areas:
CEP allows the nation’s highest poverty schools and districts to serve breakfast and lunch at no cost to all enrolled students without collecting household applications. Instead, schools that adopt CEP are reimbursed using a formula based on the percentage of students categorically eligible for free meals based on their participation in other specific means-tested programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).
Marthaller says even though the program is new at East, the school is feeding more children daily and Principal Keith Miller says he expects to see the positive impact that was present during the pandemic when all kids were offered free food.
"Every kid ate lunch and it totally took any stigma out of our schools. It was probably one of the most positive cultural things that have happened here," says Miller.
"As soon as you start, every day more kids are gonna figure it out, more kids are gonna eat cause it’s provided for them and you know it’s nice. It’s free."
