DURHAM, N.C. — A school district in North Carolina is making sure that every student can now get free breakfast and lunch at school regardless of their parents’ income.
Durham Public Schools is the first district in the state to establish universal free lunch as part of a community eligibility provision program through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Lunch has always been the busiest part of the day for Michelle Vaughan at Easley Elementary School.
“So sometimes you get a little hectic, but it's worth it,” Vaughan said. “You see the kids come through all excited about eating.”
Vaughan said it’s been even busier since the district began providing free breakfast and lunch to all students.
There’s a little bit of trial and error in guessing how many meals to prepare. Last year this elementary school averaged 150 cafeteria lunches. With the new program, it's up to 278. Vaughan said she knows how impactful free meals can be on any family.
“When my son was going to school, my oldest two got reduced or free lines, but my last one, we had to always pay for his lunch,” Vaughan said. “And sometimes it's hard when you got to pay for lunch, even if you’re in a two-parent working household.”
Linden Thayer, assistant director of food systems planning, said the new program will help families regardless of income.
“This really helps move the needle on some of our big core values and our goals as a district, including working towards equity for all of our students,” Thayer said.
The Community Eligibility Provision is a USDA program that focuses on low-income households. Although DPS doesn’t get full reimbursement because not all kids qualify to participate, it took the extra step to provide equally for all students. The hope is the program helps remove the stigma surrounding free school meals.
“Lunch and breakfast become like class, right?” Thayer said. “You're just expected to show up in your English class. You expect to just come and participate in science. And now you can come to breakfast and lunch class too.”
She said on average, a family with two kids will save around $1,200 in benefits because their students have access to these free meals. Vaughan came out of retirement after five months just for this job because she loves the kids.
“It's wonderful,” Vaughan said. “Some of them come in here, you know, they have a bad day sometimes, especially in the morning. And, you know, you kind of just cheer them up and they make your day to see that smile on their face.”
Some schools in Durham have been participating in CEP since its inception in 2014. Last year just 28 schools in the district took part. The district-wide free lunch and breakfast program is also part of a the larger Growing Together initiative Durham Public Schools adopted this year. The goal is to reduce racial and socioeconomic segregation by encouraging diversity, giving students more options in which school they attend, and making sure there is more support for emotional and social well-being.