CLEVELAND, TN (WRCB) -All 5,200 students in Cleveland City Schools can leave their breakfast and lunch money at home come next school year.
“You walk into school, you eat and we’re very excited about that,” Director of Schools, Dr. Martin Ringstaff says.
The federal government helps pay for the Community Eligibility Program. School systems with more than 40 percent of its students on free or reduced lunch qualify for the program. In Cleveland, that’s all schools.
“Sixty-five percent of our students are already receiving either free lunch or some type of reduced rate,” Ringstaff says.
“We have one of the larger free and reduced populations in the Southeast,” says Kelly Kiser.
Kiser is the principal at Mayfield Elementary where students who don’t qualify for free or reduced lunch are in the minority.
“We’re a school that is 76 percent on free and reduced lunch, so it provides us an opportunity to make sure adequate nutrition each and every day,” Kiser explains
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