WACO, Texas — Students at a local school in Central Texas will no longer have to worry about paying for lunch.
Rapoport Academy in Waco announced they will provide free lunch for all students in pre-K through 8th grade. Jennifer Whitlark, a campus administrator, said this benefits 597 students and their families.
"They have costs at home. They've got reoccurring costs. They need to feed their families at home, and if we can take part of the burden off by providing them with the free lunch this year, then we are delighted to be able to do that for those families," Whitlark said.
Rapoport Academy is a public charter school that has been open for 20 years serving economically disadvantaged students in the East Waco area.
Whitlark said they applied for this through the US Department of Agriculture and qualified based on their economic disadvantage numbers.
"I started 16 years ago here at this school and I've seen what it also means for a student to have a full belly," Whitlark said. "When they are able to come to school and to have those needs met, they're able to learn better."
Full price for school lunch is $2.20 and reduced lunch is 40 cents. Collectively, families in that community will save approximately $44,000 to $200,000 each year.
"It seems like a small thing, but it's a big thing that we can provide for them and we want to be able to do that for them and for the families," Whitlark said.
Students at Rapoport Academy will have free lunch for the next four years. Administrators are hoping they can get free lunch for the high school students as well.
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