M-DCPS to Continue Serving Free Meals to Children Through End of 2020-2021 School Year

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it would extend the summer meals flexibility waiver, allowing Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) to continue to serve free meals to all children throughout the entire 2020-2021 school year.

The waiver of eligibility rules for children under 18 is particularly important in high-need communities like Miami-Dade County. M-DCPS always provides free breakfast to all students, but this federal waiver will allow schools to serve free breakfast and lunch to all children, no matter the socio-economic status of their families. This will help ensure all children have access to nutritious food during this difficult time in our community.

M-DCPS continues to distribute meals for children at all school sites. Grab-and-go breakfast and lunch pick-ups take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4-5:30 p.m. Due to the Thanksgiving holiday and recess, student meal distributions for next week will take place on Monday, November 23 and Tuesday, November 24, from 4-5:30 p.m. There will be no meal distributions on Thursday, November 26, 2020.

The USDA requires that parents/adults provide proof of valid identification that the meal is for a child 18 years old or younger, if the child does not accompany them to the distribution. Identification can include a student ID, report card or progress report. These are the same guidelines that were followed during M-DCPS’ summer meal distributions.

Food insecurity is a reality in our community. Many families rely on school-provided meals as one of the only consistent sources of healthy food for their children. M-DCPS has not wavered in its commitment to support students and families, providing more than 10 million  free meals since the closure of schools in March.

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