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Suffolk Public Schools is reminding families that daily free school meals are available for their students. SPS Nutritional Service Department says that they provide “over 55 percent of their students on a daily basis.” and are aiming to continue their efforts to help families struggling with increased food costs. SPS Coordinator for Nutritional Services Angela Howell reflected on how this program started during the pandemic and became something “that never ended.”

“We were able to qualify at the state level for free breakfast and lunch because 40 percent of our students are eligible, and that was the recommendation that the state was given to all of the districts in our state,” Howell said. “So we were very blessed to be able to qualify for our community.” 

Noting that funding is provided at the state level, Howell also detailed that parents do not have to sign up to make sure their SPS student is receiving free school meals.

“The one thing that is great for the community to know that is if their child is receiving any type of benefit, whether they are a foster family or whether they’re receiving just some additional benefits from Social Security, it’s very important that those are documented appropriately because those go into our data at the school level which affects whether or not our community can receive free breakfast or lunch as well as our title one funding,” Howell said. “So it’s very important that all of our families always submit that information to their proper channels to make sure that the whole community is affected in the appropriate way.”

For more information, go to spsk12.net/domain/126 or call 757-925-5789.