From March through most all summer, the US Department of Education (USDE) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) provided free meals to ANY student at no cost during the school closures across our nation.  However, the federal ‘waivers’ providing the free meals expired recently. 

Earlier this month, the USDA, which has oversight of the school breakfast and lunch programs, announced an indefinite extension of the waivers.  

Extension of the waivers means that ALL breakfast and lunch meals will be FREE to ALL students regardless of income!!!   Please encourage your child(ren) to participate.  The program is temporary and will only last as long as funding allows.  Therefore there will likely be a return to ‘paid’ meals in the future.

The free meals also applies to the food distribution for Festus Online students.  If you would like to sign up for free meals for your Festus Online student you can do so by clicking here.  Meals are being distributed from the Festus Elementary Upper Cafeteria parking lot from 10am-11am Monday thru Friday when school is in session.

If your child currently has an oustanding meal debt it will still need to be paid.  A la carte items, extra food items or extra milk are not covered by the program.  Students must have funds in their lunch accounts if they plan to purchase those particular items.

When the funding expires, we will have to resume charging for the meals.  So, if you think you qualify for free or reduced priced meals, please go ahead and complete this year’s application so when the time arrives for us to once again charge for meals you will already be set up to receive free or reduced-price meals without interruption.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact R-VI Food Services Director Mrs. Peggy Carle by email at carlepeggy@festusedu.com.

Our 2020-2021 school bus routes are now complete.

For more than two months, more than 70 Festus R-VI School administrators and staff have been working on a plan to safely re-open school.  Six committees met several times to address the issues our schools will face when it comes to welcoming students and staff back into the classroom.  The results of that work is this 31-page Re-Entry Plan.  A shorter 2-page summary can be found here.  It is important to note, that his plan is fluid and subject to change based on the circumstances at the time and on the guidance and recommendations from the Jefferson County Health Department.  It reflects the situation as of today, July 20, 2020 and could look much different by the time school starts on August 24.   Superintendent Dr. Link Luttrell will be available to answer questions Thursday night, July 23 from 6-7pm in a Facebook Live Question and Answer session on the District Facebook page.