Mike Licht / CC
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) — The Sioux Falls School District is notifying parents and guardians that breakfasts and lunches for students will be free.
The free lunches are made possible by a U.S. Agriculture Department program.
It is in effect from Sept. 1 to Dec. 31, 2020.
Below is the announcement:
Dear SFSD Parents and Guardians,
The Sioux Falls Public Schools just received word that it has been accepted into a program by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that allows ALL students in the District to receive meals at no cost to them. Both breakfast and lunch will be provided free with no income guidelines. This program is retroactively in effect from September 1, 2020 and carries through December 31, 2020 or until the funding runs out.
Any meal purchased since the beginning of September will be credited back and funds placed in accounts for future use. Only breakfast and lunch meals are free. Any second milk, second meal or a la carte items will NOT be free. Students must have funds in accounts to purchase these items.
The USDA Summer Seamless Program was initiated, and now extended, as a result of the needs of families for support during the COVID-19 pandemic. All students Pre-K (Early Childhood) to 12th grade receive the free meals.
We encourage all families to continue to submit free and reduced meal applications because these will be approved and in place when the funding ends.
My School Bucks, the online meal payment system, will be disabled on October 7, 2020 until the program ceases operation. My School Bucks is not able to refund deposits. Refunds must be requested by calling our office, however, any balance can be held in the account for use when the program ends.
