By Brian Gilliland

LEWES — Starting last week, any Cape Henlopen student under 18 with their school-issued student identification number, a free or reduced meal program or a few dollars in their pocket can pick up a meal or two from area schools.

On Monday, Cape Henlopen district schools started their summer nutrition programs, and are offering breakfasts and lunches 10:30-11 a.m. Monday through Thursday at Lewes Elementary School, 820 Savannah Road; Cape Henlopen High School, 1250 Kings Highway; and Sussex Consortium, 17344 Sweetbriar Road.

“All they need to do is stop by and ring the bell. There’s even a picnic area onsite, where you can enjoy your meals,” said Stacy Smith, supervisor of child nutrition services at Cape Henlopen.

The meals will be the typical lunches provided during most of the year, set by MyPlate guidelines and National School Lunch Meal Pattern requirements including calorie, sugar and salt range, as well as offering certain food components weekly, such as dark green veggies, beans and whole grains, Ms. Smith explained.

The meals may very well be free, as a hefty portion of those eligible in the Cape Henlopen School District, never even apply.

According to Ms. Smith, the district has 6,802 students with less than 20%, or 1,108, having applied for free or reduced-cost meals. This has left the district and families with more than $55,000 in school lunch debt.

“Everyone can apply. We want everyone to apply because we can avoid lots of debt and use the higher reimbursements to get more produce, more fruits and vegetables,” she said.

The schools are reimbursed by the state at a higher rate for free and reduced meal recipients, Ms. Smith said.

Since most transactions will be handled by means of school-issued identification numbers that do not change during the course of enrollment, Ms. Smith said, there is no way to tell if a meal is on a different price scale from one student to the next.

Applications, along with eligibility requirements can be accessed via the nutritional services’ website, Capehenlopenschoolmenus.com.

Enrolled summer school students also have access to the backpack program provided by the Delaware Food Bank, which sends shelf-stable food items home over the weekend, and allows parents to arrange for baby formula.

Online payments, prepayments and other services can be accessed via the website or through the MySchoolMenus app.

They offer a list of food choices available to students, nutrition data for the menu items, ingredient information, allergen identification, dietary preference indications and translation services into other languages.