Adobe Stock Image: There will be no charge for breakfast or lunch for SUSD students this year.
School starts Wednesday, July 24 for SUSD
By Jon Johnson
SAFFORD – There will be no cost for any Safford Unified School District student to eat breakfast or lunch at any Safford school this year. School begins Wednesday, July 24, for the SUSD.
The federal government provides free breakfast and lunches as part of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. According to SUSD Director of Support Operations-Business Manager Frank Gutierrez, it lowered eligibility and allowed Safford’s acceptance into the Community Eligibility Provision Programs for the 2024-2025 school year. The school is eligible to stay in the program for four years but can opt-out annually if it chooses to do so. After four years it will have to apply again to stay in the program.
Eligibility is based on direct certification for benefits filled at state-level offices or the Department of Economic Security. A percentage of the population qualifying for such benefits is made, and, due to that, Safford qualified for the program. Gutierrez told the Gila Herald that the state lowered the qualifying rate to 25 percent and Safford’s final certification was nearly 50 percent, easily qualifying. Gutierrez advised that Susan Carrasco at the district office worked diligently to compile all the percentages to show its eligibility.
Before joining the program, Gutierrez said the district contacted other schools that have joined and spoke with its food service provider Sodexo to see how it would impact them as well. After receiving favorable reactions, the district went forward and joined the program.
“It makes sense to us,” Gutierrez said. “When you can, why wouldn’t you want to offer free meals to all your kids so they can all eat free? It’s tough sometimes for some families to be able to pay the lunch bills . . . It’s the most important thing to make sure these guys are eating breakfast and lunch if they can.”
The school is eligible to stay in the program for four years but can opt-out annually if it chooses to do so. Those who previously filled out applications for free or reduced lunches will no longer have to do so as all meals are free to all students – erasing any labels or stigma surrounding the differentiated lunch pricing.
“It will make more kids want to actually eat because they’re not worried about the fact that it’s free or they’re seen as something else,” Gutierrez said.
Those with previous lunch debt will still need to pay the district the debt owed.
