Central Valley School District To Provide Free Meals To All Students

Students in one local school district will be getting free breakfast and lunch when they return to classes on Tuesday.

New York's Child Nutrition Program has approved the Central Valley School District's application for the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) program.

The program is a provision of the Healthy-Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010 that allows schools with high poverty rates to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students.

Students can eat for free, with the option of buying additional food items and milk.

"This is great news for our students and our community," said Central Valley Superintendent Rich Hughes.

"We want every child in this district to succeed in school and in life. We know that eating breakfast and lunch makes a huge difference in a student's ability to remain engaged in the classroom. This program ensures that every child has the opportunity to eat two nutritional meals every day and helps our Thunder take one more step towards success."

Schools in the Utica City School District have been providing free meals for the past two years.