The Troup County School System’s Summer Food Service program provided 44,700 meals to local students in 2018, an increase of 46.1 percent from last year.

The Troup County School Board received an update on the feeding program at Thursday night’s meeting. TCSS’ Director of Nutrition Diane Pain presented numbers to the board, showing just how impactful the program has been in the two years TCSS has run it. Pain said there is no cost to the school system because TCSS receives federal reimbursement for the program.

The program takes place at Berta Weathersbee Elementary, Callaway Elementary, Ethel Kight Elementary, Franklin Forest Elementary, Hogansville Elementary, West Point Elementary, Whitesville Road Elementary, Gardner Newman Middle School, Callaway High School, LaGrange High School and Troup High School, as well as numerous community locations. 

“You can see that our school locations played a very important role in the increase of meals in June,” Pain said. “The summer school program was extremely successful and just getting the children breakfast, getting them settled before they sat down to learn, I think that partnership between food and education was very successful here, especially this last year.”

The Troup County Parks and Recreation Department oversaw the program until TCSS took it over two years ago. In 2016, approximately 13,000 were served by parks and recreation, according to information presented at Thursday’s meeting. In the last two years, TCSS has served 30,600 meals and 44,700 meals.

Lunch grew this past year from 18,075 meals to 28,202, and breakfast also saw an increase, going from 12,521 to 16,522. Pain said they try to provide hot meals for every lunch. Breakfasts include yogurt, muffins, cereal and other options.

“I would like to continue to increase the way we reach out to students. We are researching other ways to do this, including food trucks and other partnerships,” Pain said. “We would like to reach out to the students who can’t come to the school or a community center.”

The TCSS also discussed the following Thursday night:

4The board unanimously approved the Troup County Board of Education Operating Protocol, which defines the role the board plays in the school system. 

“[This is] putting into writing those types of activities school board members should engage in, should not engage in and how the superintendent and school board work as a governance team,” said Interim Superintendent Dr. Roy Nichols. “I think it will go a long way in terms of helping all of us understand how to work together as a governance team.”