Rhea Co. schools announce free meals policy

RHEA COUNTY — The Rhea County School System recently announced its policy for free and reduced-price meals for children served in schools under the National School Lunch Program and/or School Breakfast Program.

For School Year 2024-2025 Rhea County Schools will participate in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP).

“No further action is required of parents,” school officials said. “This USDA provision allows your child(ren) to participate in the school meal programs without having to pay a fee or submit a meal application.”

CEP is a key provision of the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010, which allows schools and school districts in low-income areas to eliminate school meal applications and serve breakfast and lunch at no charge to all enrolled students. CEP gives food service professionals more time to focus on preparing nutritious meals that their students will enjoy and gives students more time to eat those meals by cutting down on time spent in the lunch line. More importantly, by offering all students a nutritious breakfast and lunch at no cost, CEP helps ensure more students come to class well-nourished and ready to learn.

“Children need healthy meals to learn,” school officials said. “The Rhea County School System offers healthy meals every school day. Breakfast and lunch meals will follow the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) guidelines for healthy school meals, so please encourage students to participate. In the operation of child feeding programs, no child will be discriminated against because of race, sex, color, national origin, age or disability.”

Parents or guardians who need further information may contact Debbie Blackmon, Child Nutrition Program Director, at (423) 775-7814 or email at blackmond@rheacounty.org.