Bulloch County Schools’ Nutrition Services served more than 1.8 million meals to children last school year, and as students go back to school on Aug. 1, the district has increased its efforts to nourish children with expanded access to both free meals and locally-sourced food.
Free Breakfast for All Students & Free Lunch for Most
All students will continue to receive free breakfast through the school district’s use of certain United States Department of Agriculture provisions, such as the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). By using this same provision, Bulloch County Schools now qualifies to extend free lunch to all students at most of its remaining schools as well.
Last year, six schools (Langston Chapel Elementary, Langston Chapel Middle, Mattie Lively Elementary, Mill Creek Elementary, Portal Elementary, and William James Middle) were eligible under the provision. With the provision, during the 2024-2025 school year, six more schools qualified to serve all of their students free lunch regardless of family income and with no meal application process.
The expansion includes all schools except Brooklet Elementary, Southeast Bulloch Middle, and Southeast Bulloch High.The school district will continue to annually evaluate these schools’ eligibility based on the CEP program’s requirements. While the blanket access to free lunch does not apply at these schools, eligible families may still complete a free and reduced-price meal application to see if they qualify for meal benefits. Families can apply for meal benefits at Open House on July 29, request an application from their school, or apply at any time online at myschoolapps.com.
“I commend Desiree Yaeger, our school nutrition services director, and her team for their work to improve the quality of services to our students and families, while also taking action to stabilize the financial strength of our school nutrition program,” said Charles Wilson, superintendent of schools.
The Community Eligibility Provision is a free meal service option for schools and school districts in low-income areas. CEP allows the nation's highest-poverty schools and districts to serve breakfast and lunch at no cost to all enrolled students without collecting free and reduced-price meal applications from households.
Food Insecurity for Children in Bulloch County
According to the Georgia Department of Education, Bulloch County has the 65th highest rate of Georgia’s 159 counties for students with the lack of consistent access to food in order to live an active healthy life. Last year, 69.28 % of the school district’s 11,024 students qualified for free or reduced-price meals at school. The district also served 51,021 meals to children this summer.
Meal Price Increase
At Brooklet Elementary and the two Southeast Bulloch schools, the cost of a school lunch will be $3.85 for students who do not qualify for meal benefits. This is an increase from last year’s prices of $2.25 for elementary students and $2.50 for middle and high school. This increase does not subsidize the expansion of meal benefits at the other schools, but instead is a reflection of the increase in the federal school nutrition program’s standard meal price recommendations and local food preparation costs.
Locally-Sourced Food
In addition to improving access to meals for children, Bulloch County’s School Nutrition Services is also building a culinary culture for students in part by using more locally-sourced food. Last year they partnered with local farmers. Their efforts help children make a connection between the food on their plates and how it's grown and delivered. With the growth and diversity of the school district's students, who represent 18 different nationalities and 24 different languages, some of our local produce items and how they are prepared are being introduced to children for the first time.
In 2024, the district partnered with Hunter Cattle Company for beef, Mack Family Farm for potatoes, and Franklin's Farm for their strawberries, plus future orders of their citrus fruit, peaches and other produce as they come in season during the school year. Last year the school district purchased $18,252 in food items from these farms. School Nutrition Services will continue these partnerships and work toward adding more.
Bulloch County Schools is part of the Georgia Department of Education Local Food for Schools pilot program, which promotes and procures local food.
