Dec. 20—For the first time this year, San Diego Unified Schools is serving free lunches at city recreation centers while schools are closed for winter break. The lunches started this week at recreation centers near schools where the break has already started.
Just over 61% of San Diego Unified students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. Over the summer, San Diego schools partner with city parks to provide free lunch for any child 18 or under in hopes of filling the gap left when school lunch isn’t available. The district’s head of food services, Gary Petill, said the district decided to expand the service to winter break because families have the trouble making ends meet during shorter breaks in the school year.