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Starting Friday, March 1, students in the Connetquot School District, located in Islip, will be able to get breakfast and lunch for free, the district announced.
The measure includes all students at the following schools:
- Edward J. Bosti Elementary School;
- Cherokee Street Elementary School;
- Helen B. Duffield Elementary School;
- John Pearl Elementary School;
- Edith L. Slocum Elementary School;
- Sycamore Avenue Elementary School;
- Oakdale-Bohemia Elementary School;
- Ronkonkoma Middle School; and
- Connetquot High School.
These schools, which were deemed eligible by the USDA’s Community Eligibility Program (CEP), will continue serving free meals to students through 2027.
Idle Hour Elementary School was not approved by the CEP; however, in a statement released to families, Assistant Superintendent Robert Hauser stated that these students will still receive breakfast and lunch through the 2024 school year for free as part of the school’s Paid Lunch Equity program. Parents of children at Idle Hour will receive further information regarding future school years.
Additionally, the new program will include pre-kindergarten students enrolled in the district’s SCOPE and Connetquot Alternative Pre-School programs.
Parents do not need to take any action, the district said. Those whose children have a positive lunch account balance can request a refund through the school (though additional snacks and second servings of meals will still need to be purchased).
In 2016, 30.4 million children received lunch, and 14.57 million children were given breakfast as part of the USDA's national programs.
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