Exciting News Regarding Free Breakfast for All Students and Free Lunches for Students who Qualify for Reduced-Price Meals!
We are pleased to announce that Governor Ned Lamont and Education Commissioner Charlene M. Russell-Tucker announced plans to expand Connecticut’s free school meals program for the 2023-2024 school year, enabling more students to receive access to a nutritious breakfast and lunch at no additional cost to them or their families.
State funding from the American Rescue Plan Act will support the provision of meals at no cost in the following ways:
- All students will be able to receive one daily national school breakfast meal at no cost.
- Students who are eligible for reduced-price meals in schools participating in the federal National School Lunch Program (NSLP) will be able to receive lunch at no cost.
- Qualifying Free students will continue to receive a daily breakfast & lunch.
- Students who do not qualify for reduced-price or free meals will be charged for lunch. Meal prices may be found on our website at: https://www.waterfordschools.org/parents_family/food_services/menu___prices
APPLICATIONS FOR FREE/REDUCED PRICE SCHOOL MEALS
Families are encouraged to complete an application for Free/Reduced-priced School Meals.
Why fill out an application for Free & Reduced Meals? These forms are used for more than just certifying students for free or reduced-price school meals; they also help with linking families to other benefits (e.g., waiving testing fees) and distributing some types of education funding. Reimbursements to districts for meals served will be provided based on the approved eligibility status of each student – i.e., whether they quality for free, reduced-price, or paid meals. This means it is very important that applications are still completed & submitted. Submitting school meals applications remains crucial to ensuring that students and their families are able to access these key benefits, and for this to happen, we continually encourage families to submit applications if you have not received confirmation of your status and believe that you would qualify.
Please contact Dianne Houlihan,
Director of School Dining and Nutrition Services at: [email protected]
or 860-444-5862 for more information.
Free/Reduced Meal Application