CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools students are heading back to the classroom in about two weeks.
As the district prepares for a new school year, administrators are encouraging parents to get free and reduced meal applications filled out.
"It's for parents that want to take part of the free and reduced lunch pricing and it's fast secure and trackable," Susan Bond with CMS Nutrition, said.
"We need them to go online and start submitting these applications so the very first day of school there is no glitch when they're coming through."
This process does not apply to community eligibility provision or CEP schools, which have increased from 68 to 111 schools this year.
"All students that attend CEP will be provided nutritious breakfast and lunch for free without parents filling out applications," said Bond.
CEP schools are based on factors like temporary housing, snap benefits, and Medicaid which was recently added to North Carolina this year.
They say to ensure they're able to accommodate all students they’ve nearly doubled their food inventory and have also added new items to the list.
If you’d like to take a look at the menus for the first week of school or look at some of the new items brought in you can log onto the CMS Nutrislice.