Albany High School Offers Free School Lunch for All Students
By Xinxin Duan
Following a new law passed in the spring of 2021, Albany High School has begun to provide free meals to all of its students.
Principal Darren McNally said he is glad that the school will now be able to give free meals to all students, explaining that, “[he has] actually wanted to offer free lunch to students, but [the school] never could afford to do it.”
According to Executive Chef Sabina Feinberg, the USDA requires that free meals be provided to students of all schools in the nation during the 2021–2022 school year due to the conditions created by the COVID-19 pandemic, but schools in California will continue to do this in future school years.
Mr. McNally explained that the new school meal program is a self-funded program, meaning that there is “basically no cost” for the Food Services department. In past years, the National School Lunch Program required that the school receive some money from the government for the meals it provided to students in the free — or reduced-price — meal program. With the new Universal Meals Program in California, the government will give the school money for the meals they provide to all students beginning next year.
The amount that the school receives for each meal has also increased. Ms. Feinberg said in her presentation at the AUSD Board of Education Meeting on October 12th that the reimbursement rate for each lunch provided rose from $3.65 in the 2019–20 school year to $4.56 during the 2021–22 school year. This money goes towards the lunch program and paying its staff.
The implementation of the free meal program has caused the number of students getting school meals to rise significantly. According to Ms. Feinberg, the daily average of AHS students receiving school lunches increased from 139 students in the 2019–20 school year to 317 students this school year. However, this large increase has presented some challenges for students and staff.
The main difficulty is “getting all students through,” said Mr. McNally. Ms. Feinberg said, “We are feeding more students than ever in the same space, with the same amount of staff, and with the same amount of storage space we had before.”
Lines are often long in the cafeteria during lunchtime and break, sometimes stretching to the back doors, but the Food Services department has made several changes in an effort to ensure all students get lunch and don’t run out of time to eat.
One of these adjustments was the addition of another station in the gym lobby, where snacks and meals are served. According to Mr. McNally, this new location has been helpful in reducing the number of students in the cafeteria at one time. This is also a benefit in regards to social distancing.
Other changes Ms. Feinberg talked about during the Board of Education meeting included providing fewer meal choices, as well as hiring more students in the cafeteria to speed up the process of serving meals.
The work of some student staff has also changed, according to senior Elisio Aguilera. As a more experienced member of the student staff, he is now spending more time helping new, younger staff.
As for the free meal program as a whole, “I think it’s going really smoothly,” Aguilera said.
