Bulloch County Schools’ Nutrition Services served more than 1.8 million meals to children in the past school year, and as students go back to school on Aug. 1, the district is expanding access to both free meals and locally-sourced food.
According to a release from Hayley Greene, public relations director for the school district, all students will continue to receive free breakfast through the school district’s use of certain United States Department of Agriculture provisions, such as the Community Eligibility Provision. By using the same provision, Bulloch County Schools now qualifies to extend free lunch to all students at most schools as well.
“I commend our School Nutrition Services Director Desiree Yaeger and her team for their work to improve the quality of services to our students and families, while also taking action to stabilize the financial strength of our school nutrition program,” said Charles Wilson, superintendent of schools.
Last year, six schools – Langston Chapel Elementary, Langston Chapel Middle, Mattie Lively Elementary, Mill Creek Elementary, Portal Elementary, and William James Middle – were eligible under the provision. For the upcoming 2024-2025 school year, six more schools now qualify to serve all of their students free lunch, regardless of family income and with no meal application process.
Greene said in the release, the expansion includes all schools except Brooklet Elementary, Southeast Bulloch Middle, and Southeast Bulloch High.
The school district will continue to annually evaluate these schools’ eligibility based on the CEP program’s requirements. While the blanket access to free lunch does not apply at these schools, eligible families may still complete a free and reduced-price meal application to see if they qualify for meal benefits, Greene said.
Families may apply for meal benefits at Open House on July 29, request an application from their school, or apply at any time online at myschoolapps.com.
The Community Eligibility Provision is a free meal service option for schools and school districts in low-income areas. The provision allows the nation's highest-poverty schools and districts to serve breakfast and lunch at no cost to all enrolled students without collecting free and reduced-price meal applications from households.
Food insecurity
According to the Georgia Department of Education, Bulloch County has the 65th highest rate of Georgia’s 159 counties for students with the lack of consistent access to food in order to live an active healthy life. Last year, 69.28 % of the school district’s 11,024 students qualified for free or reduced-price meals at school. The district also served 51,021 meals to children this summer.
Meal price increase
At Brooklet Elementary and the two Southeast Bulloch schools, the cost of a school lunch will be $3.85 for students who do not qualify for meal benefits – an increase from last year’s prices of $2.25 for elementary students and $2.50 for middle and high school.
Greene said the increase does not subsidize the expansion of meal benefits at the other schools, but instead is a reflection of the increase in the federal school nutrition program’s standard meal price recommendations and local food preparation costs.
Locally-sourced food
In addition to improving access to meals for children, Bulloch County’s School Nutrition Services is also building a culinary culture for students in part by using more locally-sourced food, according to the release.
Last year the district partnered with local farmers. Their efforts help children make a connection between the food on their plates and how it's grown and delivered, Greene said.
“With the growth and diversity of the school district's students, who represent 18 different nationalities and 24 different languages, some of our local produce items and how they are prepared are being introduced to children for the first time.”
In 2024, the district partnered with Hunter Cattle Company for beef, Mack Family Farm for potatoes and Franklin's Farm for their strawberries, plus future orders of their citrus fruit, peaches and other produce as they come in season during the school year.
Last year the school district purchased $18,252 in food items from these farms.