Every school day, every child in Cherokee County Schools has the opportunity to eat breakfast at no charge to their family, and many students get the same opportunity at lunchtime.
That opportunity may not be available in the future. However, the school nutrition department and principals are working to make sure no students go through the day hungry.
“Our kids are never turned away from a meal,” school nutrition supervisor Jennifer Rayfield said.
Under the Community Eligibility Provision, all students in Cherokee County elementary schools, elementary/middle schools and The Oaks Academy alternative school receive lunch at no cost to the students.
The Community Eligibility Provision is a meal service from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that provides food to students in low-income areas. There are no applications for families to fill out, and all students in eligible schools have access to the meals.
Last year, when the district had to reapply to the state for the program, Andrews and Murphy middle schools were no longer eligible to continue to participate. Eligibility is based on the Identified Student Percentage – numbers based on reports pulled from the Department of Social Services. Rayfield said it is a complex formula, that includes data on the number of households receiving support from other programs, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
“There’s nothing we can do, it’s run by data,” she said.
Running the numbers
The nutrition department pulls the data every April, even though the contract for eligibility in the program lasts four years. Rayfield and Superintendent Jeana Conley said if they had to reapply for this school year, a significant amount of schools would no longer be eligible.
Conley said the first year the district applied – about five years ago – the number of households that qualified “was shocking.” This year, there were hundreds less.
When Andrews and Murphy middle lost the program at the start of last school year, it was also Shea Peterson’s first year as manager of school nutrition at Murphy Middle.
“I was nervous,” Peterson said of the change.
As a result, she noticed many more students bringing a lunch from home. Out of 333 kids in the school, she usually feeds about 225 at lunch this year. She thinks the biggest hurdle is getting the students signed up for the USDA’s free and reduced lunch program, especially since they do not want to do anything that would embarrass a child.
“It would be nice for all our kids to get to eat for free,” Peterson said.
At Andrews, students did get to eat for free, thanks to the community – including many churches - donating funds throughout the year to sponsor lunch for the students. Principal Lance Bristol sees the results every day.
“It adds to their self-esteem,” Bristol said of his students.
Conley said children do better academically when their bellies are full. She believes the school’s 88 percent in growth on the school report card shows the results.
“It sure didn’t hurt,” she said.
Community support
After the two schools lost eligibility last year, there was a 30-day grace period for all students in those schools, giving families time to apply for the free and reduced meals program. This year, that grace period was only extended to first-year students at both schools.
“The need is greater,” Bristol added.
He has met with supporters and is optimistic that the community will pull through again. Although Bristol is not allowed to know the exact numbers, he anticipates that 87 of his 258 students will not qualify for for the free or reduced lunch program. With the full price for one student’s lunch at $2.85, he estimates that comes out to a cost of almost $250 per day, or about $4,460 per month to provide lunch for those children in his school.
Conley would love to see other schools in the county get the community support Andrews did for its lunches. Rayfield said it is just under $500 a year to feed one child lunch every school day.
“We live in a great county,” Conley said.
Central Office has a Lunchbox Hero Fund that pays for meals that families could not pay for by the end of the year. One supporter, Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino & Hotel, has a program where employees can donate a portion of their paycheck to the fund.
Murphy Middle Principal Tiffany Clapsaddle said she has received some donations. She would love to see more donations put toward feeding students.
“There’s nothing worse than knowing a kid’s not eating,” Clapsaddle said. “They can’t learn if they’re hungry.”
Super Snack program
To help in another way, the district applied for all of its schools to be part of the Department of Health & Human Services Super Snack program. The program provides students a snack – which includes a sandwich, cheese stick, applesauce, milk and juice – at the end of the school day. As of last week, only Murphy Middle, Murphy Elementary, Andrews Middle and Andrews Elementary schools qualified.
Usually, only children in the after-school program get a snack at the end of the day, but this program is open to all students. Some schools lengthened the school day so the children could eat their Super Snack before leaving school grounds, Rayfield said.
“This is going to be an incredible program,” Rayfield said, adding that for some children, school meals may be the only food they get during the day. “This program, we felt, could reach more children.”
She said 1,500 children were served Super Snacks in the four schools during the first week, and she saw the numbers climbing every day. Peterson said she was averaging 190 Super Snacks per day, but prepared 208 on Friday.
“The kids are liking it,” Peterson said. “It’s a good program, and I’m glad to be a part of it.”
She hopes the other schools in the district can get approved, too. Rayfield said she was proud of the schools’ nutrition staffs and what they all do to make sure children do not go through the day hungry.
“We really are dedicated to the children of Cherokee County,” she said. “Our people have the biggest hearts ever.”
The application for free and reduced lunch is available online at lunchapplication.com. Each school also has paper applications available, but each school and Central Office also has space available for families to fill out the application online.