Free meals drives participation at Salamanca School District

SALAMANCA, N.Y. — Guidelines instituted by the federal government have impacted what students at Salamanca and elsewhere can and can’t bring into the lunchroom.

Although the rules have been in place since 2012, Superintendent Robert Breidenstein said enforcement has been more strict, resulting in what seems to be additional conversations about the guidelines.

Most notably, students are not allowed to bring in food wrapped in commercial packaging. Should a student bring in food from places like McDonald’s, Subway or Parkview, for example, it can’t be brought in the restaurant’s bags.

The guideline is part of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 and enacted in the Salamanca school cafeterias in 2012.

“Mr. Crist is enforcing the rules,” Breidenstein said about Charles Crist, who was recently transferred to the principal’s seat at the Junior-Senior High School. “I think he has set very high expectations for our students that are responsible and easily obtainable for our kids and he is holding them accountable.”

“He has given them a little grace period as they adjust not just to this rule but other rules that have long since been in effect but are now maybe for the first time or with greater consistency being enforced,” he added, “which is exactly why I made the administrative change.”

The school’s free breakfast and lunch program, another aspect of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, has been “outstanding,” Breidenstein said. The school this year began offering free meals to students through a community eligibility provision of the act.

“The participation levels are absolutely through the roof,” Breidenstein said.

In September, the amount of students receiving breakfast was up 62 percent and those receiving lunch was up 19 percent, according to school business executive Karen Magara.

The school served 13,968 breakfasts this September compared to 8,638 last year. A total of