Students in the after-school programs at the three elementary schools and intermediate school will soon have the option to eat dinner at school before going home.
Brown County Schools’ Food Service Director Don Hymer said the goal is to start the program this month. He didn’t have a definite start date yet.
Hymer works for Chartwells K12 Dining Service, which the Brown County Schools Board of Trustees chose last last spring to run the food service department at all schools. He also runs the food service department for Eastern Greene Schools and assists with other food service departments in school districts throughout the state.
“I’ve not done this in my other schools that I’ve been in, so I’m learning as I go as well,” he said of the new dinner after-school program.
Children in after-school care at Helmsburg, Sprunica and Van Buren elementary schools and Brown County Intermediate School will be able to eat dinner at school through the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) through the United States Department of Agriculture.
Meals will be available at no separate charge to all children in the after-school program.
Children can stay in after-school care until 6 p.m. for a fee if their parents are not able to pick them up when school is over, or if there would be no one home to meet them when their bus would arrive at home.
Meals and snacks served will meet standards established by the USDA for the Child and Adult Care Food Program.
The meals will be served once training and menus are finalized and are compliant with the USDA, Hymer said.
The after-school snack program will be converted into the dinner program. Currently, students receive a grain snack and either a milk or juice in the after-school program, “just very simple,” Hymer said.
He said the food service department decided to take the snack program “one step further” so that students could get a full meal before they go home.
“We have found, and I have found, that there is a definite need for that to get more food into the kids on a daily basis. We thought this would probably be the best way to go about that,” he said.
The schools already offer breakfast and lunch to students, either for free, at a reduced rate or at the regular rate ($3 for lunch, $1.90 for breakfast) depending on the family’s income.
Districtwide, more than 50 percent of students qualify for free or reduced lunches. The dinner program is another step in making sure local kids are not going hungry. “There’s just a need for that,” Hymer said.
“We have found that the kids who are enjoying our meals at this time could benefit more and just get a little bit more to them from us on a daily basis.”
The program will begin by serving cold meals for dinner, like a turkey or ham sandwich, along with a vegetable, fruit and milk.
Families can opt out of their child eating dinner after school if they wish. Meals must be eaten at the school; they cannot be taken to-go.
Dinner times for each participating school will be finalized in the next couple weeks.
“The most important thing over my years of being in this business is to keep the kids fed,” Hymer said.
“They’re better in their studies, they’re better in the classrooms, and they’re just better all-around if they do get fed well. That’s what we’re here to do for them.”
