SAN ANGELO, Texas — Starting October 1, not only can all San Angelo Independent School District students receive free breakfast and lunch from the district, but anyone in the area under the age of 18 is eligible as well.
"In September, the Texas Department of Agriculture came up to one of our meetings and they let us know that they had some extra funding that they were needing to run out from the summer food service program. So, what they’re doing is they’re opening it up for all of the districts to be able to opt-in to be able to offer free meals to all students. We looked at everything, and of course, it was a no-brainer. It’s the best thing for our families and our students," said Tiffani Herbert, the assistant director of child nutrition for SAISD, said.
Any child aged 18 and under can participate in the program, whether they're a student of the district or not. Every school in the district will be offering free meals to the students that are learning in-person. For students who are homeschooled, learning online or too young to go to school, the district will be holding grab-n-go meals at eight different locations from 1:00 to 1:35 p.m. The locations are:
Lake View High School - 900 E. 43rd
Lee Middle School - 2500 Sherwood Way
Austin Elementary - 700 N. Van Buren
Bowie Elementary - 3700 Forest Trail
Crockett Elementary - 2104 Johnson
Fannin Elementary - 1702 Wilson
Glenmore Elementary - 323 Penrose
Holiman Elementary - 1900 Ricks Drive
Parents who arrive with their children in their vehicle will receive a meal for each child present. If a parent is picking up meals for a student who's not in the vehicle, they'll need to provide a report card or attendance from their home campus; something that shows the student's ID. If they're not enrolled in SAISD, or they're too young to be enrolled in SAISD, then a parent can just bring a birth certificate copy or a state ID, according to Herbert.
"If they don’t have access to those kinds of things they can of course contact our office and we can try and accommodate and work with parents," Herbert said.
The program will run from October 1 through December 18, or until federal funding runs out.