Free Meals Continue at Nine HCSD Schools

(September 18, 2025) - We are pleased to remind families that nine schools in the Harrison County School District continue to qualify for a federal program that provides ALL students at those schools FREE meals! The following schools are participating in the USDA’s Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) program for the 2025-26 school year:

• Bel-Aire Elementary
• Crossroads Elementary
• D’Iberville Elementary
• D’Iberville Middle
• Harrison Central High
• North Gulfport Elementary & Middle
• Pineville Elementary
• River Oaks Elementary
• Three Rivers Elementary

This program started during the 2023-24 school year. Schools that have qualified for this four-year program will serve breakfast and lunch to all children at no charge and will eliminate the requirement of meal applications. This new approach to providing school meals reduces burdens for both households and school administrators, helping ensure all students receive nutritious meals while attending school.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Families are strongly encouraged to continue submitting meal applications since free & reduced-price data will still be used for other programs that benefit students.

Certain HCSD schools were not eligible for the CEP program. Eligibility is based on the number of households within a school that participate in assistance programs such as SNAP, TANF, and FDPIR or are considered Homeless, Migrant, Runaway, or Foster. Data collected by the State of Mississippi, the Department of Health & Human Services, and the Harrison County School District over the last six years has been carefully analyzed to ensure that only eligible schools receive these federal benefits and the program is financially sustainable for the school district. Data will be evaluated annually to determine if additional schools become eligible.

Please contact the HCSD Department of Child Nutrition at (228) 539-6516 if you have any additional questions.