CINCINNATI – Every student in the Hillsboro City School District is eligible for free breakfast and lunch this school year.
The district has changed its policies under the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program. Under the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), eligible schools will provide free meals to students and will eliminate the need to submit applications for free and reduced-price student meals.
“This new approach reduces the burden on both families and school administrators and helps ensure that students receive nutritious meals,” the district said in a statement.
Mother Paige Erbe said she is relieved to no longer have to worry about the cost of lunch now that her daughter is starting kindergarten.
“(My husband and I) are making more money than ever before, and we’re having a harder time than ever,” Erbe said, citing rising food prices and inflation.
She was about to apply for a reduced-price lunch for her daughter when the district’s food service director informed her about the new program.
“When I opened it and they said it was free, I don’t know how to explain it,” she said. “It just meant so much to me as a mother.”
Across the country, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has lowered the threshold for school districts to participate in the CEP program. This comes as more states across the country are implementing free breakfast and lunch for all.
“They are our future,” Erbe said. “We should invest our time, energy and our taxes in them.”
The district’s decision for the school year will have a ripple effect throughout the community, said officials with Samaritan Outreach Services. The food bank offers customers the opportunity to stop by and select their groceries alongside a volunteer.
“It’s been bad since COVID. It’s gotten worse,” said service coordinator Jennifer McClure.
According to 2021 data from Feeding America, Highland County’s food insecurity rate is 14.5%, among the highest in the tri-state area.
The school district’s policy could help ease some of the pressure on Samaritan by ensuring that food lasts longer and further.
“That would help tremendously,” McClure said.
