Throughout our district, you’ll find dedicated staff members, each playing important roles in the lives of our students. From our teachers to our bus drivers and everyone in between, our Spartan community aims to be there for anything a child needs to be successful. For Food Service Supervisor Jessica Brown, that means making sure no student goes hungry.
“A lot of kids, we know they don’t go home to food. They come in here and breakfast is the first meal of the day, and lunch is sometimes the last meal of the day, unfortunately. It’s heartbreaking, but I'm glad I'm here. I'm glad my staff is here so we can provide meals for the students,” said Brown.
Speaking of providing meals, Maine-Endwell lunchrooms served 175,998 breakfasts and 242,176 lunches for a total of 418,174 meals over the course of the 2023-2024 school. Through a partnership with Rock on Café and BOCES, students are given several healthy and nutritious choices throughout the year. And access to these meals has never been easier. Starting in November, all breakfasts and lunches were free, thanks to both federal and state support. Students are provided a main entre, vegetables, fruit, juice, and milk at no charge. A la carte options are also available at cost.
Our district has qualified for the Community Eligibility Provision, (CEP) a non-pricing meal service option for schools and school districts meeting specific criteria. CEP allows districts to serve breakfast and lunch at no cost to all enrolled students without collecting household applications. Instead, schools that adopt CEP are reimbursed using a formula based on the percentage of students categorically eligible for free meals based on their participation in other specific means-tested programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Brown says having nutritious meals is crucial for a child’s development.
“If a student does not get a nutritious meal for breakfast, they're not going to be able to thrive in the morning. And then again for lunch. They won't be able to thrive throughout their afternoon. A lot of the kids, they do have sports, so it's very important that they eat proper for breakfast and lunch to carry through to the sports day,” said Brown.
Maine-Endwell families were saved an estimated $1 million thanks to the CEP option. For Bryan McCoy, Food Services Director at Broome Tioga BOCES, staff members like Brown are crucial in the success of both the students and the district.
“We could not do what we do without the dedicated staff members that we have. We have staff members that are brand new. We have staff members that have been here for years and years. They're coming back for the same reasons that we're here. They're here for the kids, plain and simple. They’re here because they want to do what they can for those kids and give them that smile,” said McCoy.
He says the bonds that are formed between the lunch staff and the students often last a lifetime.
"It’s one of those things where they build that relationship and some of them. They continue to see those lunch ladies for years. A lot of the relationships that they build, this is really fun to see, and the smiles and the hugs and the tears at the end of the year, it's just great,” said McCoy.
All M-E students entering the 2024-2025 school year will have access to free breakfasts and lunches. No additional paperwork will be required.