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Date: 6/6/2022
WARE – For the next four years, students attending the Ware Public Schools (WPS), will be served free lunch, after the School Committee unanimously voted to approve the program.
Jeff Nicholas, food services director, asked for the School Committee’s approval during their May 25 meeting, to make WPS a Community Eligibility Provision District.
He explained that this provision, if approved by the School Committee and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), will provide free breakfast and lunch for all students of WPS for the next four years. The program is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture [USDA] and DESE.
For the past two years, WPS has not charged students for lunches, a result of COVID-19.
Nicholas said he has witnessed increased meal participation in all three schools when free meals are provided. “More students eat – it’s as simple as that,” he said.
He continued by highlighting some additional benefits of the provision. This includes saving hours of determining meal applications, easing the financial burden of paying for meals, letting students with home meals try school meals, speeds up the serving time and provides students with an appropriate amount of time to consume their meals.
“I feel this would be a big win for the students, parents and staff members of our learning community,” said Nicholas. “It has been a goal of mine for a long time [and] I feel the time is right to pursue this provision.”
Nicholas explained that this program is determined on the number of students that are directly certified free students. He said DESE has those percentages for each of the buildings. For the entire district, Nicholas said they will be paid 93.25 percent of the free rate, which is the highest reimbursement one can earn. He said the number has not been determined yet for next year, but he predicted that it’s in the $4 range for each lunch. For the remaining 6.8 percent they will not be reimbursed. Nonetheless, he said he does not foresee WPS losing any money if the numbers stay where they are.
“We’ve been feeding anywhere between 700 and 800 lunches a day out of 1,135 students … that’s a pretty good number,” said Nicholas. He noted that breakfast sales have also been increasing. If these numbers stay the same along with food prices, he reiterated that they should be fine.
Two years ago, when students were being charged for lunch, Nicholas said the average cost was around $3. He said the lowest it could be now is at least $3.75, as seen in other districts.
“We’re not out of the woods yet as far as supplies. As long as fuel keeps going up, food goes right up with fuel. Gas goes up, food goes up. They go hand and hand,” he said.
Regardless, Nicholas said they have been navigating these unforeseen challenges.
As this program is a four-year cycle, Nicholas said they would need to reapply in 2026.
He recognized his assistant Terri Moriarty, for her work in this process, along with Mike Brown who has helped in meeting deadlines.