Dear Parents and Caregivers,
We want to update you regarding the free school meals that Monson Public Schools has been able to serve to your children since the beginning of COVID in March 2020. When COVID started, the federal government created a national policy that allowed schools in the entire country to provide free meals to all students. As of now, it is likely that this national policy will end on June 30th. We hope this is not the case, but we want to be prepared and want to give all families time to prepare for this change.
What this means for Monson Public School families is that next school year we may return to the traditional system, where students receive free, reduced-price, or full-price meals based upon income status. In order to ensure we can provide free or reduced-price meals to as many families as possible, we will need families to complete the household Application for Free and Reduced Price Meals in July 2022 for next school year. Please note that this does not affect the remainder of the current school year. We will continue to offer free breakfast and lunch to ALL students until this school year ends June 17th.
The most important thing that you can do to prepare for the start of school is to complete the 22-23 MA Application for Free and Reduced Price Meals, which will be available in July 2022 at https://www.monsonschools.com/. We strongly encourage ALL families to submit this form as it is very important to the district’s records, and allows us to also waive fees for those that qualify. We will be in touch again in July with the Application form.
In addition, please consider applying for SNAP, the federal nutrition program that provides eligible residents with monthly financial assistance to purchase groceries. While the 22-23 MA Application for Free and Reduced Price Meals is not available to complete until July, the application for SNAP is available now. More SNAP information can be found at gettingsnap.org.
The food and nutrition department at Monson Public Schools thank you for your patience during this anticipated change and we understand the burden that this may place on many families. As always, we are grateful for the opportunity to provide nourishing and healthy meals to all Monson Public School students so please reach out to us with any questions or concerns.
Best,
Alan Hogan
Food Service Director
hogana@monsonschools.com