Dare County Schools take steps to offer free meals to all students
The Dare County Board of Education on Monday announced initial steps to give all students in all schools breakfast and lunch at no cost for the remainder of the school year.
The decision comes in the wake of community outcry over students at middle and high schools being refused service, or even having food taken away after it had already been served, if they exceeded a negative balance of $10 or more on cafeteria charge accounts.
The Board of Education approved providing breakfast and lunch for free to all Dare County students for the next 30 days, according to a press release.
Under the policy adopted at Monday’s meeting, students would only be served one full meal for free, and would have to pay for second helpings or additional items.
And the school board has requested a special meeting of the 5-on-5 Committee with the Dare Board of Commissioners for this Friday at 2:30 p.m. to discuss how to cover the costs for the rest of the year.
An early estimate of the cost for the year is around $415,000, but school leaders said the figure will likely be reduced as federal reimbursements are calculated based on the number of meals that are served, and other factors.
