Pittsburgh Schools Expands Free Meal Program

Pittsburgh Public Schools will expand its free lunch program to seven more buildings this fall, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The move adds some 2,600 more students to the program, which offers free lunches to all students at schools and early-childhood centers where at least 80 percent of children qualify for free or reduced-price meals. Last year, the free lunch program covered 40 sites. The district already provides free breakfast at all of its 80 schools and childhood centers. Total enrollment in 2008-09 was 26,649, plus another 1,800 in the early childhood program. The free/reduced ratio is 71 percent.