LIVERMORE FALLS — Students attending Spruce Mountain schools this year are again eligible for free breakfast and lunch through the Special Provision II program, Laura Merrill, food service director for Regional School Unit 73 noted in a press release Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 14.

All students enrolled at Spruce Mountain Primary, Spruce Mountain Elementary, Spruce Mountain Middle and Spruce Mountain High schools may participate in the school breakfast and national school lunch programs at no charge, the release notes. While application may not be needed to determine a student’s eligibility, similar forms may be distributed to collect household income data for other programs requiring the information, such as Federal Title programs, it states.

School meals served follow United States Department of Agriculture guidelines for healthy school meals, the release continues. Parents are asked to encourage their children to take advantage of the free breakfasts and lunches so that the program will succeed, it adds.

The Livermore Falls Advertiser [LFA] reached out to Merrill to obtain additional information about student meals.

“Special Provision II allows schools to establish claiming percentages and to serve all meals at no charge for four years,” Merrill wrote in an email Aug. 15. “During the first year, or base year, the school makes eligibility determinations by collecting the Free & Reduced Applications and takes meal counts by type. During the next three years, the school makes no new eligibility determinations [no Free & Reduced Applications] and counts only the total number of reimbursable meals served each day.”

All  RSU 73 schools will be in the third year of Special Provision II, Merrill noted. “Each child can receive one free breakfast and one lunch daily,” she wrote. “Students who do not take the necessary components to be compliant for a reimbursable meal will be charged as an À la carte sale.”

“Is it still important for parents to complete the application forms for free/reduced meals and if so, please explain why,” the LFA asked Merrill.

“Because this information is not only used for the Nutrition Department, the district must collect information during the non-base years,” she responded. “To do this RSU 73 is collecting Parent/Guardian – Economic Status Form 2024-2025. This provides the necessary data for the Maine Department of Education to determine subsidy amounts under Maine’s Essential Programs and Services Funding Act.”

The form must be returned by Sept. 13, Merrill wrote.

The LFA asked, “About what percentage of RSU 73 students qualify for free or reduced meals?”

Merrill indicated percentages by school last year were:
• Primary 52.91%.
• Elementary 48.8%.
• Middle 47.13%.
• High 36.1%.
• District 45.66%.

“How large is the cafeteria staff in RSU 73,” the LFA asked.

“The Nutrition Department has nine staff members contracted to work six to 7.5 hours daily, and two staff that work 2.5 or three hours daily,” Merrill noted.

For more information about student meals or programs call Merrill at 207-897-2057 or email [email protected].