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The city of Springfield is considering the purchase of this building at 50 Warehouse St., to serve as a storage warehouse for its food service program.

(Mark M. Murray / The Republican)

SPRINGFIELD – The School Department plans to provide a free lunch program to all children in the district, beginning this fall, expecting full reimbursement from the federal government.

Springfield is providing a universal free lunch program for the nearly 29,000 students in the school system, officials said.

The department has already provided a free breakfast program in recent years, said Azell Cavaan, communications director for the School Department. The free lunch program follows the same move in the Boston public school system a year ago, officials said.

Approximately 87 percent of the students in Springfield were already receiving either free lunch or reduced-price lunches due to meeting lower income guidelines, said Patrick Roach, the School Department's chief financial officer. Under the new system, all students will be eligible for a nutritious meal and the costs will be reimbursed by the federal government, officials said.

“Good nutrition contributes to deeper concentration, better learning, and even has positive behavioral effects," Cavaan said.

The plan for the system-wide free lunch program was revealed as city officials are considering the purchase of a building at 50 Warehouse St. to provide greater space for the food service program. The owner, the Center for Human Development, has offered to sell the property to Springfield for $815,000, the lowest price of four proposed locations.

The building has 30,000 square feet of space, more than double the space of the current leased location on Cadwell Drive, officials said. The city has outgrown the current site regardless of the free lunch program, officials said.

Federal funds for the school lunch program will help finance the cost of the new building, Roach said.

The city expects federal reimbursements for the school lunch program will increase by approximately $2 million annually, as a result of offering the free program system-wide, Roach said.

However, the costs increase by $1 million, as the city does not get lunch fees from the students, he said.

The School Department is interested in purchasing the former Early Childhood Centers of Greater Springfield property at 15 Catharine St. that will includes classroom space for young children and a large kitchen that can provide fresh food to students citywide, officials said.

Both that building and the Warehouse Street site were toured Tuesday by city officials including City Councilors Clodovaldo Concepcion, Kateri Walsh, and Orlando Ramos.

The purchase of the properties needs approval from Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and the City Council.

With the added revenue, the school system is planning to make improvements including the purchase of fresh produce and having salad bars throughout the school system, Roach said.

A key benefit of the free lunch program is that it will reduce the paperwork for the school district, and for families, Roach said.

“With all the data entry, it’s actually cheaper to have a system-wide program, Roach said.

Boston is the only district that had a systemwide free lunch program in 2012-13, but it has been offered to other communities, Roach said.

The breakfast and lunch program in Springfield has a $15 million budget.

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