New Hampshire school district fights for free milk

Dec. 9—Manchester's school superintendent said she is hopeful the district can "within weeks" start offering free milk to students so they don't wind up throwing away the rest of their federally subsidized lunches just to get the beverage.

"I'm confident we're going to have a solution that basically allows children, if they're eligible for a free or reduced-price lunch, if they bring their lunch from home, to have a free milk at no charge," Superintendent Debra Livingston said Friday.Livingston said she plans to learn more during a conference call Thursday afternoon with officials from the state Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Livingston said the district estimates "under 20" children are tossing the rest of their free or reduced-price lunch into the trash because they only want the milk. She said that was based on recent inquiries that the food services staff made at the city's schools to assess the size of the problem.