The state Department of Education will be providing free meals at 83 public schools on five islands this summer.
The meals are available to children ages 18 years and younger — even if they’re not public school students.
The Seamless Summer Option program will serve meals at selected schools Monday through Friday starting in June. Meals will not be available on June 10 (King Kamehameha Day) and July 4 (Independence Day).
Schools eligible for the SSO program must have 50% or more of its regularly enrolled students qualified for free or reduced-price lunches and some type of summer program on campus.
The program is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and helps to ensure keiki can receive nutritious meals during the summer.
Schools have the choice of serving breakfast or lunch, or both meals. Grab and go containers will not be available. The meals will need to be eaten on-campus — the standard format before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Good nutrition is vital to the health and development of our growing keiki and summer food service programs help to ensure that meals are available for all school-aged children during the summer break," Superintendent Keith Hayashi said in a statement. "We encourage our parents to make these meals part of your child's summer schedules to give them balanced and nutritious options. We thank our devoted cafeteria staff and administrators and our federal partners for making this program possible each year."
A list of participating schools can be found at hawaiipublicschools.org.
