Starkville school district offers meal programs for students
School is back in full swing at the Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District and lunchtime is more than just a break for some students.
STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – School is back in full swing at the Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District and lunchtime is more than just a break for some students.
Many rely on the meals at school for a significant part of their daily nutrition.
SOCSD’s Child Nutrition Director Ginny Hill says the district offers a couple of different programs.
“In every school, we operate the school breakfast program and the national school lunch program. These are both programs administered by USDA,” Hill said. “They issue our meal pattern guidelines that we have to stick to. They also help with the lunch applications that we process so students can qualify for reduced-price or free meals. We also do an additional program at breakfast that allows all of our students in the district to eat for free.”
The USDA offers an income chart that uses family size and income to decide eligibility.
But the district takes that help one step further.
“However, in Starkville, we have waived the reduced price fee for parents and families so if your student qualifies for reduced-price meals, you still eat free just like our free students. That is just a way for us to help parents that are right on the cusp and might be struggling a little bit more, we absorb those costs for those parents,” Hill said.
Making the meals nutritional but also appealing to students can be a challenge.
“So we have to remember that our customers are students and students have a different taste palate and preference than adults. So we do try to make menu favorites like you might see today the pizza, and we are part of a statewide purchasing group so the pizza we have is made with whole grain crust,” Hill said. “We do have low sodium and low-fat toppings on that that this purchasing group helps us acquire foods that meet our meal patterns.”
You can find meal applications and the income chart at starkvillesd.com
