Feeding children

Students from nine out of the 12 schools in Evangeline Parish received a treat this school year, free lunch.
Karen Soileau, Child Nutrition Supervisor for Evangeline Parish, said that for a school to be eligible to provide free lunch to all of their enrolled students the school must meet certain requirements provided by the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). Soileau said, “The way a school is determined to be eligible is 40 percent of the enrolled student population has to be what they call identified students.”
Soileau then explained, “Identified students would be a student that is directly certified from the state, meaning they are on SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). Other identified students are students that are homeless, migrant, runaways, and foster kids,” said Soileau.
Prior to CEP, students were still allowed to eat even if they had not paid their lunch bill. Soileau said, “The student’s bill kept going up and then at the end of the school year principals would help us contact the parents. Sometimes the principals would end up paying the bills because the parents just couldn’t afford it.”
Now, instead of unpaid lunch bills or educators and administrators footing the bill, the United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service program covers most of the cost. “The USDA program funds 91 percent of students eating, while we receive a pay rate for the other nine percent of students,” Soileau said.
Soileau is continually checking the data at the schools in-case a school in the parish that is not currently receiving free lunch ever becomes eligible.
“I am in the business of feeding children, so it is very important to me to continue to collect the data,” said Soileau. “My hope is that at some point we can hopefully get more schools on board as we continue to go on.”
While some parents of students that attend a school that does not receive free lunch felt that this program was unfair, Soileau said, “After speaking with those parents and explaining all of this to them they became very understanding and supportive of the program.”
Although at this time Pine Prairie High, Bayou Chicot Elementary, and Basile High do not meet the requirements to have all of their students receive free lunch Soileau said, “My ultimate goal is to have all of the school’s in the parish receiving this assistance.”