ST. CLOUD -- Hundreds of nutrition experts are in St. Cloud this week for the Minnesota School Nutrition Association’s annual conference.

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Many of the sessions deal with the lifting of the nutrition waiver, meaning Minnesota students will restart paying for school lunches.

Sarah Motl is the Supervisor of Nutrition Services at District 742. She says all families should fill out the free and reduced meal application at their school.

We don't want any kids to go hungry, we are going to feed all of our students. But we need every family to fill out that educational benefits application so that their kids can get qualified for free and reduced meals starting that first day of school. So the earlier you can fill it out, the better.

Motl says many families are unaware they qualify for the program, and even more are unaware of the additional benefits that go with qualifying.

If you qualify for free or reduced meals, you may be able to get reduced internet costs at your house, your student can have reduced activity fees. At St. Cloud district, you get free device insurance for Chromebooks and just many other benefits that come along with that.

The Educational Benefits Application is available at every school in the district.

 

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