Students to receive free meals all year

All students can now receive free breakfast and lunch through the entire 2020-21 school year, thanks to an extended waiver from the United States Department of Agriculture.

The USDA’s Oct. 9 announcement extends the nationwide waiver it first announced in August that allowed the free summer meal program to continue for all students through Dec. 31 or until available funding ran out.

USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue said the move helps feed students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As our nation recovers and reopens, we want to ensure that children continue to receive the nutritious breakfasts and lunches they count on during the school year wherever they are, and however they are learning,” Perdue said. “We are grateful for the heroic efforts by our school food service professionals who are consistently serving healthy meals to kids during these trying times.”

The waiver, which extends through June 30, 2021, allows schools to provide free meals outside of typical group settings and meal times, and allows parents and guardians to pick up meals for their children.

At Cape district schools, in-person students receive the same grab-and-go meals available for pickup by remote students five days a week; in-person learners can also pick up free meals on their remote days. 

Remote learners and students working from home that day can fill out the online remote order form on their Clever dashboard, capehenlopenschools.com or their school website by 9 a.m., and arrange to pick up meals at the school most convenient to them.