Late last month, the district announced that it would start including all Cherry Hill students in its meal distribution plans and not just those who applied for free/reduced lunch.
I spoke with Superintendent Dr. Joseph Meloche to find out how these free lunches came to Cherry Hill – a district that has had its fair share of issues with district-provided meals this school year.

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Meloche explained that the state, near the onset of the pandemic, applied for a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) – which has jurisdiction over free/reduced lunch, etc – that would allow a universal meal distribution plan.

“We knew that the New Jersey Department of Agriculture applied for a waiver from the USDA…we found out…the State of New Jersey had received the waiver, which allowed us to feed any child in the district,” said Meloche. Meloche explained that before the grant, only school districts where at least one school had 50% enrollment in a free/reduced lunch plan could implement such a program, but with the waiver, Cherry Hill, whose max was in the 30% range, could now feed all its kids.

The waiver, which lasts until the end of the school year, involves the reimbursement of all funds spent on these meals, meaning the lunches will be paid for by national taxes and not local taxes.

“There’s a cost that’s incurred at the district level to secure the food, and then [we] apply for reimbursement from the feds,” said Meloche.

Unfortunately, though, the waiver will not continue into the summer or the 2020-2021 Academic Year, meaning the state (or district) may need to reapply to continue with free meals.