This is the second in a series of stories counting down to the start of school, spotlighting what is new in HISD in the coming year. For online Nutrition Services, including information about school meal benefits, managing your child’s cafeteria account, menus, nutritional information, healthy recipes and the latest news, go to www.HoustonISD.org/NutritionServices.
Expansion of a federal pilot program is enabling Houston ISD to offer free lunches to students at 169 campuses in the 2014-2015 school year, regardless of family income — no applications required.
The free meals are part of the growth of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. HISD identified participating schools through a variety of economic criteria, including students’ families’ participation in federal assistance programs. About 170,000 or 81 percent of HISD students met the criteria last year for free or reduced-price lunches, and the selected schools tended to have at least 90 percent of their students qualifying last year.
HISD has already offered free breakfast to all students since 2010. This push to expand the free lunch program, known as the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), is just the latest step to ensure low-income students don’t go hungry that include providing free dinner to youngsters ages 1-18 on some campuses where need has been determined.
Altogether, the district serves about 270,000 meals daily, providing necessary nutrients, whole grains, low-fat proteins, and fresh fruits and vegetables.
HISD schools included in the free-lunch program for 2014-2015 are:
Elementary Schools:
| Alcott Almeda Anderson Atherton Barrick Bastian Bellfort Benavidez Berry Blackshear Bonham Bonner Braeburn Briscoe Brookline Browning Bruce Burbank Burnet Burrus Cage Carrillo Codwell Cook Coop Crespo Crockett Cunningham Davila Dechaumes Dogan Durkee Eliot Elmore Elrod Emerson Farias Early Childhood Foerster Fondren Fonwood Foster Franklin Frost |
Gallegos Garcia Golfcrest Gregg Grissom Gross Halpin Harper Alternative Harris, J.R. Harris, R.P. Hartsfield Helms Henderson, J.P. Henderson, N.Q. Herrera Highland Heights Hilliard Hobby Inspired for Excellence West Isaacs Janowski Jefferson Kandy Stripe Academy Kashmere Gardens Kelso Kennedy Ketelsen Laurenzo Early Childhood Law Lewis Lockhart Looscan MacGregor Mading Marshall Martinez, C. Martinez, R. McGowan McNamara Milne Mistral Early Childhood Mitchell Montgomery |
Moreno Neff Neff Early Childhood Center Northline Osborne Paige Peck Petersen Pilgrim Academy Piney Point Pleasantville Port of Houston Pugh Reagan Reynolds Robinson Rodriguez Ross Rusk Sanchez Scarborough Scroggins Seguin Shadydale Shearn Sherman Smith Southmayd Stevens Sutton Thompson Tijerina Tinsley TSU Charter Lab Valley West Wesley Whidby White Windsor Village Woodson Young Young Scholars |
Middle Schools:
| Attucks Burbank Cullen Deady Dowling Fleming Fondren Fonville Forest Brook |
Gregory-Lincoln Hartman Henry Hogg Holland Jackson Key Marshall |
McReynolds Ortiz Project Chrysalis Stevenson Sugar Grove Academy Thomas Welch Williams |
High Schools:
| Beechnut Academy Furr Hope Academy High School Ahead Academy Jones Kashmere |
Lee Milby North Forest REACH Charter South Early |
Sterling Washington Wheatley Worthing Yates |
More Countdown to 2014-2015 stories: