Starting this fall, every student in North Adams Public Schools will be able to get free breakfast and lunch under a federal aid program. With 71 percent of its 1,500 students qualifying for free or reduced lunches, North Adams Public Schools was deemed eligible for a provision of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. It allows for 100 percent reimbursement of student meal costs. Food services director Cory Nicholas says the district serves 500 breakfasts and 950 lunches every day.
“The real benefit is that everyone gets the same opportunity,” said Nicholas.
Nicholas says the program will save North Adams families about $78,000 a year. Pittsfield Public Schools will be offering the program in its eight elementary schools this fall.
