Scottsdale Unified School District waives reduced lunch fees
Aug 5, 2019, 4:45 AM | Updated: 10:25 am
(Pexels photo)
(Pexels photo)
PHOENIX — This school year, the Scottsdale Unified School District is waiving the fees for its reduced lunch program.
The school district already waives reduced-price breakfast fees but said it is pleased to be able to assist families even more.
“We saw a growing need in the community of families that used to qualify for free meals just missing the cutoff and moving into the reduced-meal category,” Patti Bilbrey, SUSD Nutrition Services Director, said in a press release.
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The district said that the growing need is a combination of Arizona’s minimum wage increase at the start of the year and no change in the federal poverty guidelines.
Last year, more than 5,000 SUSD students qualified for the program. Families can apply through the district’s website to see if they qualify for free or reduced-price school meals.
SUSD Nutrition Services serves an average of 11,000 meals per school day and more than 2 million throughout the year, according to the release.
Districts like SUSD are able to provide students free and reduced meals through the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, a piece of legislation that allows the government to assist states through grants and other means to provide school lunch programs.
