Free Breakfast and Lunch for all Students

Over the past few years, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) provided waivers to Child Nutrition (CN) programs across the United States, allowing these programs to offer all students breakfast and lunch at no charge. The USDA stopped providing these free meals on August 31, 2022.

This means that starting in the 2022-23 school year, the Clarkstown Central School District returned to normal, pre-pandemic ways of qualifying for Free and Reduced price meals. Families can qualify for free meals through Direct Certification (Medicaid, SNAP) or by completing a Free and Reduced Application.

Since there have been very few meal applications submitted over the past couple of years, interested parents/ guardians should complete a 2022-23 Free and Reduced meal application to eliminate the possibility of unexpected charges:

You will receive notification through the mail if your student is approved.

Enrollment in Free and Reduced price meals is confidential and has the added benefits of enabling students to:

• Receive waivers for college application fees;
• Qualify for AP exam fee reductions;
• Take a limited number of SAT exams for free; and,
• Participate in the Job Corps workforce development program

In addition, your child may be eligible for benefits such as Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). To determine if your child is eligible, program officials need information from your free and reduced price meal application. Your written consent is required before any information can be released.

To apply for free and reduced price meals for the 2022-2023 school year, download, print and return an application form below.

Further information and links to the downloadable applications are also posted below.

Families must submit applications for free and reduced price meals each school year. Applications may be submitted at any time before or during the school year.