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All Students At 45 Escambia Schools To Receive Free Lunch, Breakfast
August 2, 2019
Breakfast and lunch will be free for all students, regardless of income, during the upcoming school year at 45 schools in Escambia County.
The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) program means that parents of the students at these schools are not required to submit an application for the Free and Reduced Meal program at that school. However, siblings attending schools not on the CEP list will need to apply for eligibility.
The free meal schools are selected upon income levels.
Participating schools are:
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
Bellview Elementary
Bratt Elementary
Brentwood Elementary
Byrneville Elementary
C.A Weis Elementary
Ensley Elementary
Ferry Pass Elementary
Global Learning Academy
Holm Elementary
Jim Allen Elementary
Lincoln Park Elementary
Lipscomb Elementary
Longleaf Elementary
McArthur Elementary
Molino Park Elementary
Montclair Elementary
Myrtle Grove Elementary
Navy Point Elementary
Oakcrest Elementary
Pine Meadow Elementary
Pleasant Grove Elementary
Scenic Heights Elementary
O.J. Semmes Elementary
Sherwood Elementary
Warrington Elementary
West Pensacola Elementary
MIDDLE SCHOOLS
Bellview Middle
Beulah Middle
Ernest Ward Middle
Ferry Pass Middle
Jim Bailey Middle
Warrington Middle
Workman Middle
High Schools
Escambia High
Northview High
Pensacola High
Pine Forest High
Washington High
OTHER SCHOOLS AND CENTERS
Camelot
Capstone
Escambia Westgate Center
Jacqueline Harris Preparatory Academy
Success Academy
Lakeview Center
NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Comments
62 Responses to “All Students At 45 Escambia Schools To Receive Free Lunch, Breakfast”
@jj hey guess what, when you are poor, you never have enough food and these families don’t receive enough food stamps to feed their family. it might surprise you, but you can stretch your food stamps much farther buying unhealthy food as it is much cheaper. healthy food is much more expensive. so while your judgmental, idealistic views are cute and not rooted in reality (and it’s clear you have no idea what it’s like to live in poverty), things don’t work that way. look it up. educate yourself. stop judging.
@ane you have absolutely no compassion and your comments make me sick. i had a much different comment written until i read the “rules” and didn’t want my comment to be deleted. maybe someone was able to “afford” to have children and then became disabled or became a widow and their deceased spouse was the breadwinner. you don’t know a person’s circumstance! also, this IS a different world than the 1930’s when you were a kid. the wealth inequality is astronomical now compared to even 30 years ago. also, you should be able to work full time making minimum wage and support yourself and your family but you can’t. there are many other factors that are different now but the examples i gave alone should suffice. things are broken in this country. in an ideal world, your idealistic views would make sense, but this is FAR from an idea world.
You can apply for the program it your child’s school isn’t on the list. If you receive foodstamps or Medicaid or other government programs you will qualify.
Will the fact that West Florida High School has been moved to another community change its eligibility for Free Meals???
Is the decision based on the income of the families attending the school, or the income of the community the school is housed in??
Thankyou.
It doesn’t mean we have a new second hand car that we are not struggling! Free reduced meal is a BIG help to low-income families! Sad that Kingsfield is not in the list. It’s better to feed the students than to feed the low life’s in jail!
An eight year old can’t control his/her parent’s behavior, career (or lack thereof), or set the family priorities. How dare you begrudge a child a meal because you’re mad at the parent that bore them.
I wonder if we stopped banning abortions, started educating people to use condoms, and stopped pretending like unborn children don’t eventually need food – would we have a “better” society that could actually produce this perceived view of “perfect” families that provide for one another?
My single mother didnt qualify for any government benefits and sent me to school without lunch or money. I’m far from socialist but this is something I dont mind seeing my tax money go towards. Children are Angel’s.
If the “system” would regulate on what people could buy food wise with WIC, food stamps, etc, we would not have this problem. I love going to the store and seeing individuals using the system to buy soft drinks and non food items. I saw a sign the other day at Circle K that Pepsi products are SNAP approved. Then you have stores that make deals with the customer. Ex. “Let me buy cigarettes and beer with my food stamps and you can ring it up for more of a cost off my card”. It happens all the time at these small stores. Prove me wrong. Point is, if the parents would buy actual food for their kids and their self, we wouldn’t have this problem!!
You dont know how expensive things are until they are “free”. How about create work for the ones that cannot afford to feed their children. Like a box of mail to put together and return to the schools. Something. But wait teaching good work ethic would be immoral. making ones that dont agree with free lunches pay isnt. While i would not want anyone to go without food i dont agree with having free for everyone lunhes.
A Alex, and the beat goes on, free pajamas, free clothes, new shoes, a brand new bike every Christmas. Some of these are sold for drug money during the year, I work in some of these homes.
My parents would have beaten me for taking free food. Family rule was feed your kids or don’t have them. What a different world this is.
Y’ALL for those who are complaining about FEEDING KIDS how about you skip a couple of meals a day or even give up a few packs of cigarettes or your 6-packs of beer.
That way you might have some idea of what it’s like to “be without” for a short period of time.
Yep, all you who figured out these schools are in our Pockets of Poverty you are absolutely correct, get a 100 and go to the head of the class.
Bigger Picture for ALL of Us is that this represents why Escambia County is in Desperate Need of some sort of industry or work places where people can find jobs and make enough money to NOT have huge areas where there is hardly enough to survive.
These kids did NOT ask to be born into poverty.
FEED THE CHILDREN…
@PJ yes It is parents job, but some parent can’t find the nose on their face and kids should Not pay for it, Just because they have expensive toys doesn’t mean kid are taken care of,
What I do not agree with is, I put money in an account my child’s lunch, and one day I forgot to add the money and in stead letting him eat on credit for the day knowing he normally had money in his account they would not let him eat.
Yet, they feed all these kids free or reduced lunch. Really, you would rather the child go hungry all day?? Than not feed them?
Look at the school grades of the ones that do not appear on the list. I think that you will find a correlation between A schools and not being on this list. My morning commute to drop my kids off at “our school choice” selections takes about an hour and a half every morning. N.B. Cook to Brown Barge to West Florida, not a free lunch at one of them. All A schools. If the free lunch is important too you then use the school choice and transport your child to one that offers it. If you your child is eligible/districted to a school that does not offer, check out the grade of the school. Then try and decide what is more important.
JD hit the nail on the head. This is related to the high poverty rate in this county. Fix that and this number drops. In the mean time, I’m glad to pitch in my tax dollars to help feed kids even though mine is grown.
Escambia County School Food Services Department website
If you have to pay, this is what you will be paying:
Elementary
Breakfast $1.25
Lunch $2.25
Secondary
Breakfast $1.50
Lunch $2.50
Adult
Breakfast $2.00
Lunch $3.25
Reduced Prices
Breakfast $0.30
Lunch $0.40
Extra Milk
Elementary only $0.50
Wow… some of y’all begrudging children food.
Shame.
It should be across the board and as I previously mentioned: no food should be wasted. Any child who is actually hungry will eat – if they don’t like what is served – they are NOT hungry. Just a cop-out for parents not having to bother. All schools should qualify because any child will feel bad about himself when he does not pay full price for his meals. Children are cruel, notice such things and will point it out!
What this shows is that alot of people and families in this county earn below average pay. It’s been ongoing in this county for years.
Free? Who you trying to fool? Someone is paying, nothing is free!
I agree with Randy I pay taxes why is my student left out. I don’t mind paying for free school lunches. As a child of a single working mother with no support so whatever from my father growing up I know the social stigma it is to not have lunch money.
More than that I know the feeling of an empty belly while your sitting there trying to learn. All school lunches should be free for all students period. As for those yelling “socialism” or “i shouldn’t pay for your kids school lunch” I say to you good people would you rather pay for their free prison meals?
And really I don’t want to have to help foot the bill for you medicade when you inevitably get old and cant work anymore but you don’t see me complaining about it. And yes I know you pay into medicade as well but not nearly enough to cover rising medical cost.
@Melissa My student wont eat the school lunches because they are disgusting. My child takes their lunch usually leftovers from the night before (Yes I am pretty good at cooking XD) and they love it. Makes their friends jealous with the smell of warmed up stroganoff or lasagna or slow cooked smoothed pork chops mmm mmm.
In summary all schools should get free lunches no-one should need to be singled out. Even if you think the parents are doing a poor job supporting their kids it is NOT the Childs fault.
Why was Tate and Ransom? left off the list, they are schools in Escambia county as well, If you gave 47 other school free breakfast and Lunch they should be on the list also and I’m sure a lots of parent and grandparents are going want to know Why their kids school wasn’t included,
*CEP not ceo lol
The district called yesterday…automated call. They said any school not CEO will need to fill out an individual app for free lunch. From my understanding part of this is due to filling out the survey they send throughout the year. I would have expected Ransom and Tate to be on the list as well given all the schools around them are.
Free Free Free
Free cell phones
Free tax on school supplies
Free school supplies
Free Christmas presents
Free Free Free
No wonder so many sit at home with their hands stretched out
https://www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/community-eligibility-provision
For the ones who question how this is figured. The average income for Tate and Ransom are to high to be considered for the income.The federal/state program looks at each school not the school district as a whole.
it’s based on the mathematical formula of students who qualified in the school for the previous year. Once they reach a certain threshold the entire school is automatically put on the program.
For those of you complaining about certain schools not being listed: if you look up the CEP guidelines, this provision is for schools in low-income areas. Because Kingsfield, Random and Tate have a higher community income demographic, they aren’t eligible for this.
If you are an outlier in that zone and can’t afford your kids’ lunch, you can still receive free lunch by filling out the forms required. If you can afford to pay for their lunch, then quit complaining that those less fortunate than you are getting a hand up.
For the people asking why some schools are not on the list it is based off the majority of the families income at that particular school. I look at it as progress, but I can’t wait for all schools to be able to receive it!
Cordova park is not on there
Are Ransom and Tate the only Escambia County schools left off the list?
Tate, Ransom, and Kingsfield Elementary are all in the same school zone, and none are on this list. I’m curious to know how this list is determined.
Neither Blue Angel or Helen Caro Elementary are on there either
I would guess that Ransom and Tate aren’t on the list for the same reason that AK Suter and NB Cook aren’t: majority of students don’t qualify for free/reduced lunch because their family’s income is too high. Somebody’s gotta pay, ya know?
This is so freaking necessary.I know it is hard for some to believe .some kids cant get food to eat…..hard to believe here in America….the poor are getting poorer,even two jobs dont get it any more..it is so hard….this is such a wonderful idea…no child should go hungry…ever!!!!!
It should be all schools not just certain schools. All schools have kids that the parents don’t qualify for free or reduced price meals but have a hard time making ends meet. It should be across the board.
Left off West Florida High School as well. I pay taxes just like everyone else why is student excluded?
They choose the schools based on the general income of it’s district. Beulah Elementary, Ransom, Tate, Kingsfield, etc are in higher income areas. They do have school choice now so I reckon if you want your kids to have free lunch and you make too much money to qualify you could always send them to one of the schools that provides free meals.
Now we have successfully segregated our children between “Free Lunch Schools” and “No Free Lunch Schools”. I wonder how the unintended consequences will play out with respect to racial diversity of our schools? Will families with limited resources who are unable to qualify for assistance transfer their children to a free lunch school? Will this make the No Free Lunch schools whiter if more minorities choose to transfer to or live near free lunch schools? Hmmmm.
Why is Tate and Ransom singled out??
I believe these schools are selected based on income levels of the parents in each of the schools districts. Fortunately, not all schools in Escambia County qualifies.
Ransom,Tate, Northview all of us up here we can hold our own!
School lunches are gross! My kids have gotten chicken not all the way done and the staff wouldn’t take it back! More than half of the kids in the county that can take their own lunch or go hungry until they get home! We need better lunch options and to stop treating our kids like they are in prison!
#1. Nothing is ever free…. Someone is paying (taxpayer)
#2. My spouse is currently a teacher in Escambia Public School system… First hand info here…. On average over half of the food that is served/available is thrown away in the garbage. js.
Pay your taxes!!!!!
All schools should be included, then please watch how much food is wasted by these “hungry” kids. To teach them to eat what they take from the buffet will be a good life lesson.
What happened to parents providing breakfast for their kids? Not to mention lunches? What in the world has happened to parental responsibilities ? Now it’s the taxpaying community that subsidises the cost/choice of these people to bear children. If we built fold-away beds in the gymnasiums, we could also provide the kids with a decent place to sleep and the parents wouldn’t have to b bothered with them at all.!!
To qualify 40% or more of the student population must considered below the poverty line. Then the school may apply for the program.
This is socialism. I should not have to help pay for other people’s children’s meals if I don’t want to.
Maybe now NO excuses to get the children up-dressed appropriately-ready to learn.
It clearly states ‘The free meal schools are selected upon income levels’ ~ SMH
So.. if the kids that go to Jim Allen, Lipscomb, McArthur, and Molino Park Elementary are the same kids that go to Ransom.. how do their parents suddenly become higher income just because they get to middle school???? Sounds like BS to me. Talk about racial profiling.
All Escambia County, Alabama had this last year, This program is a God send,.
I read before that it depends on the average income level and/or the percentage of total students that receive free or reduced lunches. If over a certain percentage, all students receive the benefit.
@am…You hit the nail on the head
they had this program in alabama last year. a great idea.
@troubled, Isn’t that the parents job? 2 scrambled eggs and toast costs less than 50 cents. yet parents covered in tattoos and sporting the latest iPhone cry foul when it comes to taking care of their own kids.
How do you single out certain schools? Looks like discrimination to me! Doesn’t seem fair at all! Come on! Let’s use the 4 cents gas tax from Ecat to pay for Ransom and Tate.
Why is Ransom and Tate not on these lists?
Might be easier for the district to list the few schools that aren’t on the list.
GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nice to see we take care of our kids.
Why are Ransom Middle and Tate High missing from this list? What was the criteria for getting the free meals?