Oscar Gensaw IV receives a hug from Susan Masten before he starts his first day as a second-grader at Margaret Keating Elementary School on Monday. Photo: Jessica Cejnar

All Del Norte Unified School District students will be able to eat free this school year, but officials are reminding parents to turn their paperwork in.

The school district has expanded its involvement in the Community Eligibility Provision program to include students at Del Norte and Sunset high schools and Del Norte Community School, spokesman Michael Hawkins said.

This non-pricing meal service option through the U.S. Department of Agriculture allows districts in low-income areas to offer free breakfast and lunch to its youngsters. According to Hawkins, families don’t have to fill out the Free and Reduced Lunch Meal application, which had been required, but they do need to turn in the simpler Fair Share Survey, which will be found in their students’ back-to-school packets.

“Essentially, there should not be any children in our school district that go unfed during the school day,” Hawkins said. “What we hope is a lot less hangry children walking the hallways at Del Norte High.”

Schools that adopt the Community Eligibility Provision are reimbursed based on its percentage of students eligible for free meals through involvement in the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or other means-tested programs, according to the USDA.

While it’s not as lengthy as the Free and Reduced Lunch Meal application, the Fair Share Survey is a necessary component to the district being able to take advantage of the CEP program.

In a letter to parents, Deborah Kravitz, the district’s director of nutrition services, stated the survey allows the district to benefit from programs tied to the Local Control Funding Formula, which allocates extra dollars to school districts based on the number of English language learners, foster, homeless and low-income students.

“Without your assistance, our schools cannot maximize utilization of available state and federal funds and our ability to provide FREE MEALS TO ALL STUDENTS MAY BE JEOPARDIZED,” Kravitz writes.

DNUSD began taking part in the CEP program at the elementary and middle school levels last year. However, it was nearly forced to cancel the program when the number of Free and Reduced Meal applications submitted dropped and parents didn’t realize they needed to turn the Fair Share Survey form in.

Kravitz said the miscommunication likely occurred because the Fair Share Survey is much simpler compared to the Free and Reduced Meal application.

“Every school site worked really hard to get as many parents and families to complete that as we could,” she said. “Individual school secretaries and administrators, along with our department, made sure we got as many of those surveys turned in last year.”

This year the district has embarked on a “media blitz,” with District Superintendent Jeff Harris going on local radio to remind folks about the CEP as they get ready to send their kids back to school, Kravitz said. Notices have also been sent out through social media, the local newspaper and on Del Norte High School’s marquee.

According to Kravitz, 66.6 percent of Del Norte County students are eligible for free and reduced lunch. She said that may change.

“It’s been hovering between 68 and 70 percent for the last couple years,” she said. “We don’t expect that’s going to change.”

The Fair Share Survey can be found in students’ back-to-school packets or can be accessed online. For more information, call DNUSD Nutrition Services at (707) 464-0246.

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