ESCONDIDO — The Escondido Union High School District will offer free breakfast and lunch to youngsters at Washington Park throughout the summer.
Meals will be available to anyone 18 years of age and younger, regardless of student status, from June 10 to Aug. 9 (except July 4). No application or registration is necessary.
Breakfast will be available from 8 to 9 a.m., and lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Meals will also be provided to summer school students at Orange Glen High School, Valley High School and Del Lago Academy. Breakfast and lunch will be available daily while students are on campus.
The school has also provided meals at Grove Park in the past. However, that location isn’t available this year.
The district offers this meals program in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service and the city’s POWER Mobile Recreation Program, a free youth recreational program at Grove Park.
According to Mike Thorne, the city’s communications director, the program is typically funded through a Community Development Block Grant rather than the city’s general fund. Although the city applied for funding, the program was not selected for a grant this year.
“We plan to resubmit for funding this application cycle for summer 2025,” Thorne said via email.
City staff notified EUHSD of the change in services in March.
Thorne said that while nothing is keeping the school district from providing lunch services at Grove Park this summer, the district would prefer to have a dedicated participant base through a program like the POWER Mobile Recreation Program.
“We will continue to serve summer meals at our school sites; however, those are closed to the public and will only serve students,” said Rita Alatorre, the district’s community relations officer.
For more information about the summer meals program at Washington Park, contact Christina Cazares with EUHSD Nutrition Services at 760-291-3240 or [email protected].
