Throughout the school year, students throughout the region have been able to grab school breakfast and lunch without needing to reach into their pockets for a dining card or punching in a code number into the school cafeteria register.
Free school meals, whether in person or take-out during remote learning, have been a key part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s COVID-19 recovery program. The federal agency will now extend that program through the 2021-22 school year as part of what the agency called a suite of waivers on school meal requirements. The waivers include allowing flexibility to schools for lunch times and locations and extending some pandemic safety protocols.