KOKOMO — Free meals for students have become a reality for one school district in Kokomo, and it’s all thanks to the work of one woman.
Paula Bolin is the Food Service Director at Taylor Community School Corporation. She took it upon herself to figure out a way to provide free breakfast and lunch to all the students she served.
"At one point in time we had about $5,000 of lunch debt," Bolin said.
That debt was accumulated by students who couldn’t afford to pay for their school lunch.
“I noticed last year as new students came in, everyone seemed like they were on some form of assistance,” Bolin said. “So, I knew that number was going to get a little bit higher than it was last year.”
With an increase in students living at or below the poverty line, Bolin applied to be part of the state’s Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), a program that helps kids get free meals at school.
“If you have 40% of students on government assistance you can apply for the community eligibility provision,” Boiln said.
At Taylor Community Schools, state records show 50% to 60% of middle and high school students are on some sort of government assistance. At the elementary school, that number is 68%.
Superintendent Steve Dishon says this program allows students to focus on what is most important.
"When kids come to us, and they are kids from poverty, they are not responsible for any of that. They are a victim of their circumstances,” Dishon said. “So, we need to make sure we are taking care of the kids first and foremost before anything else."
Bolin has been with the district for 26 years. She says more and more families are struggling with paying for their student’s lunch.
“Since COVID, we have really noticed that a lot of people just can’t [afford it],” Bolin said.
Bolin says this program was something she knew she had to make a reality for the kids the district serves.
“It’s actually the best thing I could do,” Bolin said. “It makes me feel so good to be able to just say ‘Here, are you hungry? Take this.’ It’s a wonderful program and I’m glad that I was able to qualify the school.”
Now that Taylor Community Schools has qualified its entire district for free breakfast and lunch, students won’t have to pay to eat for four years.
According to the Department of Education, the Community Eligibility Provision was implemented as a part of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010.
Eligibility is determined at the school building level, requiring a minimum identified student percentage (40%) who are eligible for free meals without the use of household applications but rather other direct certification measures, such as household enrollment in SNAP, TANF or Medicaid.
During the 2022-2023 school year, 154 school corporations had at least one CEP school; statewide, 593 schools participated in CEP.
