In 10 states, family income not a factor for students to eat free
Boston’s public-school system has joined a federal program in 10 states and the District of Columbia that offers students two free meals every school day, whether or not their families can afford them.
The Associated Press
STEVEN SENNE / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Santa Amparo, an employee, stacks lunch items at Maurice J. Tobin K-8 School in Boston. A new program at the school provides free breakfast and lunch for all students.
BOSTON — Some students toted lunchboxes to the first day of school in Boston this week, but district administrators are expecting that could become a more unusual sight as parents learn about a federal program that is providing all public-school students in the city with free breakfast and lunch.
The nation’s oldest school system has joined a program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that has spread to 10 states and the District of Columbia that offers students two free meals every school day, whether or not their families can afford them.
“It’s one less weight and one less burden for parents,” said Joshua Rivera, whose son is a second-grader at the Maurice J. Tobin School in Boston’s Roxbury section.
Officials say that serving more children saves them money.
The program, the Community Eligibility Option, is part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 that authorized $4.5 billion in new program funding.
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