IRVINE, Ky. (LEX 18) — Estill County Schools has launched a new meal service program to deliver meals to students using the district’s bus routes.
“We felt that we could reach more children in the county this way,” said Belinda Puckett, the school district’s food services director.
Breakfast and lunch are prepared and packaged by cafeteria workers in the morning. Transportation workers then load up the number of meals they need to service every child on their route.
“Every day we get more and more kids that are signing up to get the meal service,” Puckett said.
The food is prepared following standards set by the National School Lunch Program.
According to Puckett, the need for more accessible meal services became apparent when the rates of meal pick-ups at the schools dropped significantly.
“We feel we’ve done really well [with the new program] because just this week we’ve served more than we served the entire month of July,” Puckett said.
More than 9,000 meals have been served in the first week, according to Puckett.
All Estill County Schools students are eligible for the meal service.
You can sign your child up for the program on the Estill County Board of Education website.
