This North Carolina School District May Become #1 For Free School Lunch

This North Carolina school district may be the first in the state for "Universal Free Lunch". Durham Public Schools may become the largest school district in North Carolina to provide free school lunch to its students. Free School Lunch in NC "Free School Lunch" for all students, this is the goal of Durham Public Schools. The district is planning to apply for a federal program that will potentially provide free lunch to 32,000 students. "The Universal Meal Program" is a federal bill that seeks to lessen the burden on families who live in food-insecure households. The USDA has estimated that 9 million children deal with food insecurity. Through a combination of federal waivers and passionate advocates, many schools for the first time may be able to provide breakfast, lunch, and dinner to students who otherwise may not eat at home. This bill also does not require families to "prove" that they are indigent. Also, by providing free lunch to all students, this then destigmatizes separation by "class" and allows students to eat when they are hungry instead of being too embarrassed to ask for free student lunch or not able to eat due to outstanding lunch debt. Additionally, school districts who have enacted "The Universal Meal Program" have discovered that they have actually saved time and money. If Durham is able to receive this funding, students would no longer be required to fill out free lunch application forms. These forms use valuable admin time to approve financial documents. The school administrators would no longer need to call parents to clear student lunch debt, which has reached into the hundreds of thousands for some districts. This is such a great opportunity because children should not be worried about whether or not they are able to afford lunch when they are going to school. Below you can watch the full news story on the situation done by CSB 17 in the Raleigh/Durham area.   [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tLKNbigbOc[/embed]