In addition to breakfast and lunch, Norton Elementary School has completed the trifecta and now serves dinner to students enrolled in its after-school program.
The first supper program in Alachua County Public Schools began on Nov. 3. The program is paid through the Child Care Food Program, which is funded through the Food and Nutrition Service of the United States Department of Agriculture.
“There truly are students that don’t get meals when they go home, or (don't) get a really balanced, healthy meal,” said Maria Eunice, the director of Alachua Public Schools Food and Nutrition Services. “So, I feel like if we can help out in that area we might as well look into it and try to offer that program to families.”
Norton Elementary was chosen as a pilot for the program because 55 percent of its students are in the free and reduced lunch program, and its after-school enrollment is very high, Eunice said.
Angel Londrie, the Extended Day Enrichment Program coordinator, said 179 children were enrolled in the program as of September. Out of that 179, Eunice said 142 students were fed the first day the program launched.
Currently, 550 schools are participating within 18 other counties statewide, excluding Alachua, wrote Nathan Dunn, the communications director of the Florida Department of Health, in an email.
Similar to the lunch menu, each dinner will include the five main meal components of meat, bread, fruit, vegetables and milk. Eunice said each plate is priced between $1.15 and $1.20.
Dinner is currently scheduled to be served at 2 p.m. Eunice said meals are served at an early time because students come to the after-school program already hungry.
Dinner service was intended to begin in July. However, the paperwork process along with other new additions to the school, such as the introduction of photo IDs, delayed the program's launch.
The ultimate challenge in implementing the program was staffing, another reason why Norton Elementary was chosen to launch the program.
“I felt like the principal was supportive, the [food] manager was supportive and the after-school coordinator was all supportive,” Eunice said.
A responsible work force is essential to making the program work because if a food service manager cannot be at the cafeteria to supervise, a reliable staff is needed to make sure dinner runs smoothly, she said.
Dunn wrote that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has streamlined the application process for school districts to participate and districts implementing this program have not yet faced any significant challenges.
Eunice said she would love to bring this program to needy schools where 98 percent of students have free or reduced lunches, but the enrollment in those after-school programs are too low to qualify for the program now.
The supper program is planned to expand to other schools in the county by next year.