GLOBAL – it is public knowledge that in most countries around the world that lunch is provided in schools for kids. This is usually a free programme as there are kids who come from homes and families that can’t afford to feed them. It really just boils down to a poverty issue.
In the United States of America there is more poverty that meets the eye. Children are sometimes sent to school so that the lunch programme will make sure that they have one square meal for the day.
In many states it sometimes is not possible to carry on free lunch programmes as there is no money. And the easiest thing to do is to cut of lunch as not every child needs it. But the ones who do are the ones that have to now go hungry.
The Federal waivers in South Dakota that gave school districts the ability to provide all students with free lunches recently had finally ended, and now districts like the Rapid City Area Schools are going back to a free or reduced lunch program.
According to the South Dakota Department of Education, children from families whose income is at or below the income guidelines are eligible for free or reduced-price meals at their school district.
With the program coming back, Nicole Swigart, RCAS assistant superintendent, wants to remind families, that along with the free or reduced lunch program there is also a possibility that certain schools throughout the district qualify for free lunches for the entire building based on the number of students that are eligible for free or reduced lunches.
She went on to make the statement that “It’s a really big concern of mine as we go into the school year because kids are going to come in and they are going to be hungry, and so by the time, 11:30 a.m. hits they’re going to be starving because they didn’t have breakfast. Then on top of that, lunch, is something that some families might not be able to afford,”
