SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Kids in the Sioux Falls School District head back to class in about three weeks.
That means it’s back-to-school season for staff at Cleveland Elementary.
“Kind of a busy time, exciting time though as kids start to come in and get registered and just seeing them excited to come back,” Cleveland Principal Stacy Stefani said.
Part of heading back to school may include applying for free and reduced meals.
Gay Anderson is the child nutrition coordinator for the Sioux Falls School District.
“It’s a really critical time for us because what we want to do is have as many people apply for the free and reduced meals now so if they qualify, they’re not going behind in dollars to negative accounts,” Anderson said.
Kids who qualify for reduced meal prices will eat for free.
“There is something in my program that we are allowed this one opportunity if we have funding that we can go and cover the cost for reduced families. We are in a position that we can do that again this year, and so all of our reduced students will be able to eat for free. It’s year two of this and it was significantly a huge deal for families last year,” Anderson said.
One way families can apply is through a QR code.
“And we also have it in various languages, so families that do need to have it in different languages they can apply that way. And we are doing everything we can to be available in different places,” Anderson said.
Cleveland is planning an open house on August 20th where they will help families sign up.
“Every family we have, we encourage them to fill it out,” Stefani said.
Anderson encourages families to apply even if they don’t think they’ll qualify.
That’s because they may benefit from local donors, while the funding is available.
