Nye County school district brings back free summer meals for children

Free meals are back for Nye County children just as school cafeterias prepare to close for the season, giving families in Pahrump and across the county a way to offset grocery costs during the long summer break.

Nye County School District said it is participating in the Summer Food Service Program for 2026, with meals provided free to all children ages 2 to 18. The district said the meals are offered without discrimination and are the same for every child regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability. Its food-service page also says meals are served on a first-come, first-served basis.

That matters in a county where distance can be a barrier as much as cost. Nye County stretches from Pahrump to Tonopah, Beatty, Round Mountain and Gabbs, and a meal program only helps if families can reach it. Transportation, site hours and simple awareness often decide whether a child eats free breakfast or lunch, especially in rural communities where parents may be working or juggling multiple stops.

The district’s notice, dated March 26, 2026, also fits a long pattern of summer nutrition support in Nye County. In 2015, the Pahrump Valley Times reported that the district was again sponsoring its Summer Food Program, which then-Food Service Supervisor Dawna Braithwaite said was meant to fill the void for children whose parents had limited incomes. During the pandemic in 2020, the district also distributed breakfast and lunch to every student and child 18 and under during school closure.

The district’s current food-service team lists Kyera Glenn as food service coordinator and Joann Forney as assistant food service coordinator. Families looking for nearby sites can use the USDA’s Summer Meals for Kids site finder, which is built to work on tablets and smartphones and is designed to help parents quickly locate meal sites nearby. USDA says summer meal sites can include schools, parks, churches, recreation centers and libraries, and that meals are available at no cost to any child age 18 and under.

Nye County School District already runs much of its school-year nutrition work through Community Eligibility Provision meal coverage, except at Duckwater and Warm Springs schools, underscoring how central food service has become to student support in the county. For many families, the summer program is not an extra benefit. It is part of the basic safety net that helps children stay fed when the bell stops ringing.