With summer winding down, and the school year nearly here, district leadership in the copper country are crossing ts and dotting Is before the start of school. Calumet Laurium Keweenaw schools accepted final bids for milk, pizza and bread provided in school meals. All three bids came in at about the same prices as last year, with Jilbert Dairy, Jim’s Pizza and Hanna Gold Bakery providing food for the district. CLK Schools will additionally enroll in the state’s free meal program, which will look similar to how school meals operated during the pandemic.
“This time the state’s picking up the difference. We will have just over 70 percent of the meals served qualify for federal reimbursement. And then what the state is doing through that free meals, is they are going to kick in that remaining percentage. About 26 percent of that, they will be matching, to make breakfast and lunch free for students. We took a look at that, and it seemed to be pretty beneficial for students, families, our food service, and so we decided to opt in for that. “ Chris Davidson, Superintendent, Calumet-Laurium-Keweenaw Schools
With the amount of money added to the program by the state, the universal meals should help districts control present food service debt. The board will charge school staff who eat school meals, approving the fee schedule for adults. Additionally the district re-approved its athletic training services for the school year with Aspirus Keweenaw. Last the board extended gratitude to Maria, Joe and Ben Campioni, Scott Madajewski, and Dave Cruch for their donation of a wagon to the middle school football team, and toward Carmen Sandretto for a 5,000 donation to help the Junior ROTC fund travel expenses during the upcoming school year.