ESCANABA — More students in the Escanaba School District may be offered free or reduced lunch.

The Escanaba School Board heard from Food Service Director Nancy LaFave about the possibility of offering free or reduced lunches to more children at its Committee of the Whole meeting Monday.

According to LaFave, approximately 52 percent of students district-wide have free or reduced lunch. The program, Community Eligibility, is targeted towards lower income areas.

If it was implemented at Escanaba, LaFave said it would offer breakfast and lunch at no cost to all enrolled students without collecting household applications. Currently, if a student wants a free or reduced meal at the school, they have to fill out the appropriate paperwork to see if they are eligible. Breakfast would also be served in the students’ classrooms.

LaFave suggested trying the program in grades K-8 as a starting point to see how it would function and work out any kinks that may occur. In addition, the district could see reimbursement from the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture).

The Community Eligibility’s website states that “schools that adopt CEP are reimbursed using a formula based on the percentage of students categorically eligible for free meals based on their participation in other specific means-tested programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).”

Board members, along with LaFave, said the program could be beneficial to reduce overdue lunch charges, and more importantly, ensure that all students get a balanced meal and the nutrition needed to help them focus in school. Action will be taken on the program at the Monday, June 18 regular board meeting.

Escanaba Superintendent Coby Fletcher also updated the board on progress at Webster Elementary School to transform it into a kindergarten center.

“We are looking good with getting Webster ready,” said Fletcher.

At the last board meeting in May, the board approved consolidating begindergarteners and kindergartners into one school — Webster Elementary — for the 2018-19 school year. The move was made in an effort to reduce class sizes and increase teacher collaboration. The school formerly housed kindergarten through third grade.

Fletcher said all of the lockers in the school have been taken out and will be replaced with benches and hooks, similar to the ones at Lemmer Elementary School.

A new playground will also be constructed at the school to accommodate the younger students, noted Fletcher, adding regardless of Webster becoming a kindergarten center or not, the playground would have been replaced. In addition, Fletcher said the district is researching purchasing iPad carts and adding some lunch time supervisors at the center once it is open.

“We’re looking well on our way there,” said Fletcher.