OKC district students to get free lunch

Oklahoma City Public Schools students will eat for free when they return to school in August, district officials announced Thursday.

With the Eugene Field Elementary School cafeteria serving as a backdrop, officials said the district will serve breakfast and lunch free of charge to 44,000 students during the 2017-18 school year.

The meals will be funded through the USDA’s Community Eligibility Provision, a federal program that subsidizes meals for schools and school districts in low-income areas.

“Research has shown that students who eat breakfast and lunch on a daily basis increase their attendance, improve their behavior and perform better in school,” Superintendent Aurora Lora said.

“By providing healthy school meals, OKCPS is making sure that our most vulnerable children are not going hungry.”

Kevin Ponce, the district’s director of school nutrition services, said the district spent $21 million to serve 8 million meals in the 2015-16 school years, based on federal reimbursements.

The program will cut down on the amount of paperwork to determine eligibility for free or reduced-price meals, officials said.

“We require families to fill out applications and tell us a lot of private stuff, and then we have to keep track of all of that,” said Deborah Taylor, associate director of school nutrition services. “Now we get to spend money on food instead of paperwork.”

Additionally, officials said the program will lessen the stigma attached to students who eat in the cafeteria.

“Having free meals for every student will change the perception of the cafeteria and make it a welcoming place for all students — regardless of their socioeconomic situation,” Ponce said.