Students get free meals

All Siloam Springs students will receive free meals through the end of December, according to Jason Carter, director of the district’s child nutrition program.

The United States Department of Agriculture has extended the Seamless Summer Option for school meal programs across the country through the end of the semester, Carter said. As a result, all children age 18 and younger will be eligible to receive free breakfasts and lunches Monday through Friday, according to a post on the district’s website and social media pages.

“With everything going on this is one less thing our kids and parents have to worry about and I’m so grateful for that,” Carter said.

The USDA first released a waiver last March when schools began closing for covid-19, so that schools could begin serving all children under age 18 through the Seamless Summer Program, Carter said. Since the first waiver was released, Siloam Springs Schools have served more than 300,000 meals, he said. Typically, the program serves about 25,000 meals in one summer.

The latest USDA waiver applies to students who are taking both in-person and virtual classes as well as students who aren’t enrolled in the district, the school website states.

Carter said he isn’t sure yet what the waiver will mean for students who aren’t enrolled in Siloam Springs Schools, but it will mean that students inside the district will not be charged for meals starting Aug. 31.

Siloam Springs School District has paused all meal charges as of Sept. 3 and will begin refunding any meal charges that occurred between Aug. 31 and Sept. 3, the website states. It may take a few weeks for the refunds to be issued, he said.

Students with negative balances from before Aug. 31 will still need to pay the money back, but this is a great time to get caught up, he said.

About 55 percent of students in the district already qualify for free and reduced price lunches so the waiver will impact the 45 percent of students who don’t qualify, Carter said. Families who make just slightly too much to qualify for free or reduced price meals will be affected the most, he said.

“If a family makes $10 more, then they don’t qualify,” Carter said. “A lot of folks are right at that level of income.”

It is still important for students to fill out their free and reduced lunch forms, Carter said. Students can receive scholarships and ACT test waivers based on the forms and the school receives funding for other programs based on free and reduced meal numbers, he said.

Meal application forms can be found on the district website, siloamschools.com, by selecting any school’s page and following the EZ Mealapp link. Paper copies can be requested at any school office.

For more information, contact the Siloam Springs Child Nutrition office at 479524-6255 or emailing food services@gosiloam.com.