Kingsport City Schools to provide free meals to all students as Tennessee schools grapple with student lunch debts
All students in Kingsport City Schools (KCS) will be eligible to receive meals at no charge, regardless of socioeconomic status, beginning August 5, a recent district announcement said.
According to district officials, the Kingsport City Schools Board of Education recently voted to implement the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) program in all KCS schools, which will permit the district to provide free meal services to all students. The move comes as schools across the state work to address millions of dollars in student lunch debts, and shortly after districts like Rutherford County Schools decided to discontinue free meal programs supported by federal COVID-19 relief funds. It also follows proposed legislation introduced earlier this year that would have required schools to establish school meal programs that provide a free breakfast and lunch to each student under their district jurisdictions next school year. That legislation failed to advance out of committee.
"The School Nutrition Services team could not be more excited about feeding our students a free healthy breakfast and lunch," said Kingsport City Schools Supervisor of School Nutrition Services, Jennifer Walker. "Hungry students can't learn, and it's a great feeling knowing we can now provide all KCS students with a basic need vital for their success as part of the education package."
KCS will be a part of the CEP program providing breakfast and lunch for the next four school years until time for renewal, according to the announcement. Under the program, all students enrolled in KCS will automatically qualify for breakfast and lunch at no cost without completing a free or reduced-priced meals application.
However, the announcement said, negative breakfast and lunch account balances from August 1, 2023 - May 23, 2024 will still need to be paid.
"We are so proud of the dedicated school nutrition services staff in all KCS schools that work hard every day to provide delicious, nutritious meals to our students," said KCS Superintendent Dr. Chris Hampton. "By implementing the CEP program in all KCS schools, we can assure that every student will have full access to these meals on a daily basis."
District officials said they hope that doing away with free meal applications will also eliminate the stigma that’s sometimes associated with receiving free or reduced-priced meals. Families can still upload money to student’s accounts for ala carte items like ice cream and extra food via LINQConnect.com, according to the announcement.
