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Some Tampa Bay area schools continue offering free meals through the end of the year

The USDA gives the option for school districts to extend summer meal programs as funding allows.

Editor's Note: This story has been updated with additional sourcing and links.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is bringing back the Free Summer Meals program for all students, 18 and younger, through Dec. 31.

“As our nation reopens and people return to work, it remains critical our children continue to receive safe, healthy, and nutritious food. During the COVID-19 pandemic, USDA has provided an unprecedented amount of flexibilities to help schools feed kids through the school meal programs, and today, we are also extending summer meal program flexibilities for as long as we can, legally and financially,” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said.

Now, whether schools participate is up to them and funding.

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried on Friday sent a message to Gov. Ron DeSantis, asking for some of the state's federal CARES Act funding that was specifically allocated for schools to be spent on supporting sponsors of the National School Lunch Program, according to a news release.

More than 289 million school meals were distributed to about 2.9 million students in Florida last year, the release said. Of those, about 71 percent were free or reduced-price meals, according to the state.

“School meals are an important part of fighting food insecurity that affects 3 million Floridians, including 850,000 children, and is expected to worsen during COVID-19,” the release said.

Manatee and Pasco Counties reignited their free meal program on Sept. 14.

In Manatee County, all K-12 students who attend school five days a week can get a free breakfast and free lunch every day at school through Dec. 31. No meal benefit application is required, and the meals will contain frozen and refrigerated items.

Students in a hybrid schedule can also receive free breakfast and lunch on the days they are in school and free take-home meals for the three days they are out of school.

Students who chose eLearning also have access to free meals through curbside pick-up. Meals can be picked up at any school on Mondays between 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. The school district says parents and guardians do not have to register for these meals they can simply drive up and pick up.

Pasco County Schools is also making it easier for kids to get free meals.

Beginning Sept. 14, Pasco students who attend in-person classes will still be able to get meals in the cafeteria, but those meals will now be free. Students doing remote learning pick-up their school meals in a drive-through fashion.

Here are the pick-up times for meals in Pasco. 

Starting Sept. 18, the school district will serve a week's worth of meals for breakfast and lunch to mySchool Online students, quarantined students and local residents 18 and under. These meals will be handed out curbside.

Unlike Manatee County, families who would like to participate in curbside pickup must complete the Meal Reservation Form. 

Other school districts will also be offering free meals to students. The Hernando County School District has been offering free meals to all students since 2018. Click here for more details.

Polk and Highlands counties will also continue to offer free school lunches to students this year.

Polk County Public Schools will make meals available for pick up for all students who are taking classes online through their enrolled school. Meals will be provided once per week on Wednesdays, from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. in a drive-through format. Each student will receive five breakfasts and five lunches.

This distribution for Campus eSchool students started Aug. 26 and will continue through the end of the year.

Polk Virtual School students are not eligible for free meals.

Click here for more information.

A spokesperson for the Sarasota County says they are also working on an extended meal program.

“Our Food & Nutrition Services department has indicated that we are working towards following the same program. Our team is in the midst of those planning efforts now,” a spokesperson said.

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