Alpine School District has opened applications for free and reduced-priced meals for the current school year, according to a notice from the district. The district serves more than 32,000 meals each school day to support student success.
Applying for meal benefits is recommended to minimize the financial impact on families. Kristine Scott, the Nutrition Services Director for Alpine School District, stated that the district never turns away a student for a meal. She noted that applications allow the district to reach more students and help ease the burden on parents caused by rising food prices.
At the end of the previous school year, the district had over 14,000 students with a negative lunch balance. This resulted in an average debt of -$40.49 per student, totaling a cumulative balance of -$586,362.97 for the district. Scott explained that because federal meal benefits cannot be applied retroactively to meals already eaten, submitting applications early protects parents from carrying unpaid balances into the new school year.
Applications can be completed online at Linqconnect.com or via paper forms available in English and Spanish at all local schools. Families must submit a new application each school year because prior benefits expire at the end of September. While the district works with the state to automatically apply benefits to as many students as possible, Scott noted that parents must create a Linq Connect account to verify a student's status.
Nutrition staff and managers work to provide fresh, high-quality breakfast and lunch options at every school across the district. Students and staff have expressed satisfaction with the variety of food options and the energy provided by nutritious meals.
