On Wednesday, January 31, Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) announced that they’ll be offering free meals to students — effective immediately — throughout the school year.

The new change is due to the expansion of the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) of the National School Breakfast and Lunch Program. So, this means that each student will be provided with a free breakfast meal as well as something to eat for lunch at midday.

“We’re just super thrilled to be able to offer this to our community and our students and families since we now have equal access to free meals at all of our schools,” said Lyndsay Aguilar, Director of Food Services for TUSD. “This helps ensure that our students are nourished and they can learn and be successful in their academic achievement.”

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To put in perspective how many free meals will be given out during the school year, all students enrolled at any of TUSD’s 87 school campuses are eligible. There isn’t anything extra parents need to fill out or apply for either.

“We look forward to serving nutritious meals at school,” TUSD Food Services shared on social media. “All 87 Tucson Unified schools qualify for this program, and household applications for free and reduced-priced meals are no longer required.”

In the end, this means that TUSD is covered by the CEP for the next four years, and then when the time comes, the district will need to apply again to be approved for the program.

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