2022-23 School Meals Information

Translations and accessibility options are available at the top of the page.

• Arabic: الرجاء الضغط هنا للترجمة العربية.

• Simplified Chinese: 点击这里查看中文翻译.
  
• Traditional Chinese: 點擊這裡查看中文翻譯.
• Haitian Creole: Klike la a pou tradiksyon kreyòl ayisyen an.
• Hebrew: אנא לחץ כאן לצפייה במסמך בעברית.
• Japanese: ここをクリックして日本語の翻訳にアクセスしてください.
• Korean: 한국어 번역을 보시려면 여기를 클릭하십시오.
• Portuguese: Clique aqui para a tradução em português.
• Russian: Нажмите здесь, чтобы получить доступ к русскому переводу.
• Spanish: Haga clic aquí para acceder a la traducción al español.
• Vietnamese: Nhấn vào đây để truy cập bản dịch tiếng Việt.

The Public Schools of Brookline would like to thank you for your continued support over the years and especially throughout the pandemic. Over the past 2 years, the department has had the opportunity to feed all students in the district at no cost to the families and will be happy to continue doing so this school year.

Unfortunately, the USDA waivers legislation that allowed that to happen is expired as of June 30, 2022. On June 25, 2022 Congress passed the Keep Kids Fed Act which was signed by President Joe Biden, this bill allowed us to continue to serve Free meals through the summer.

The newly signed Keep Kids Fed Act of 2022 (KKFA) allows USDA to issue limited nationwide waivers that do not increase Federal costs during School Year 2022-2023. This means that without further actions by Congress meals will return to a traditional payment system for Free/Reduced/Paid.

The good news is Massachusetts State Legislators have passed legislation to provide state funding to support universal free school meals through the 2022-2023 school year.

Since this legislation passed, your kids will continue to receive a breakfast, lunch or snack every school day in a safe and welcoming environment at no cost to you.

Regardless of the continuation of universal free meals in MA, income eligibility must be reestablished for all students effective July 1, 2022. Free/reduced eligibility status will be used by the state and Federal government to reimburse the district for meals served to families. In other words the Federal and State Government pays not you!

Additionally, students newly eligible for free or reduced price meals through 8/31/22 are eligible for Summer 2022 P-EBT. Families that qualify should take advantage of this opportunity to continue receiving these benefits before they go away.

In order to continue to be in compliance and provide meals at no cost to parents we must determine your child Free/reduced eligibility status so we can accurately claim and be reimbursed by the state and the Federal Government.

Complete a Free and Reduced Meal online application at Titan Family Portal or a PDF can be mailed to you upon request. Remember Free and Reduced Meals Application can be used to access a number of other benefits in the district. If you feel you qualify for free and reduced meals please submit an application today so we can determine your status.

Continue to have your kids eat a nourishing and appetizing school meal. Remember, when your children eat school meals, it helps the school system by providing federal funds to the district. The more meals we serve, the more funding we receive, allowing us to focus on meal quality, variety and innovative sustainable practices. Your child’s Free/Reduced/Paid eligibility will be used to determine how much federal dollars we receive this year. Help us continue to take advantage of this opportunity and maximize the amount of federal dollars we receive before this goes away.

In an effort to better serve families in need of recreation who may not have the financial resources, Brookline Recreation and Brookline Public Schools have a coordinated effort to support our youth, reduce barriers, ease the burden of applying, and encourage the participation of young Town of Brookline residents in the available Recreation programs.

The Town of Brookline committed Federal ARPA funds to create free recreation opportunities, subject to conditions such as limited space, different programs each season, among other examples. Youth qualify for the available seats in programs that Recreation has selected each season, if they live in Brookline Public Housing or if they are eligible for free and reduced-price meals.

If you are interested in this new program, please complete the consent form here and return it to the Brookline Recreation Office (133 Eliot Street, Brookline, MA, 02467).

For more information, please contact Leigh Jackson at 617-730-2069 or lmjackson@brooklinema.gov.

Free and Reduced Meals Applications are conveniently available online at Titan Family Portal or print and complete the PDF attached and mail to:

Public Schools of Brookline
Food Service Department
333 Washington Street, 5th Floor,
Brookline, MA 02445

Don't miss out on accessing additional district wide benefits, update your child meal status today!

Please reach out to Mona Saltalamacchia at mona_saltalamacchia@psbma.org or call 617-730-2415 with any questions you might have.

We treat your kids like family!

Sincerely,

Sasha Palmer

Director of Food Services

Public Schools of Brookline