December 21, 2020

Dear Parents/Guardians,

It is with great pleasure that I inform you the Bangor School Department has been awarded an extension of the USDA meal waiver allowing all children attending Bangor public schools to receive free breakfast and lunch until the end of the school year. The free meals are retroactive to September 1, 2020. If you have paid for lunches, balances will be credited to the next school year, when families will again need to pay for student lunches.
However, it is very important families complete the “Free and Reduced Price Meal Application.” We have programming, such as Title I, that allocates funds based on the number of students receiving free lunch. Without these completed forms, the BSD could lose additional funding resulting in reduced school programming, placing a greater burden on the local taxpayer. For example, based on the applications returned, Fourteenth Street School and Mary Snow School will lose Title I services and Abraham Lincoln will see reduced Title I programming. Thus, please complete the Free and Reduced Price Meal Application.
The Bangor School Department feels fortunate to know that all children will be eligible for free school
meals until June 2021. If you have any questions, please reach out to your child’s school principal.

Educationally,

Kathy Harris-Smedberg, Ph.D.

Interim Superintendent