During the difficult transition from the COVID-19 pandemic back to in person school, all schools in the Austin Independent School District were serving free breakfast and lunch to their students. Students wearing masks to stop the spread of COVID at their schools would get to enjoy lunch with no worries of forgetting their lunch or having to buy it. But this year, students have to buy their meals though, students can apply for a reduced or free lunch if they can not afford lunch, or have some sort of conflict.

The school cafeteria was serving free meals all last 2021-2022 school year.  Now in the ongoing school year the meals have gone back to being paid for. Many students at Bowie would get free food at lunch. This year however, school meals are priced at 1.50 for breakfast all the way up to 4.50 at lunch.

“I feel like meal prices are a little expensive,” Senior Avery Deithloff said. “I run out of money pretty quickly when buying school lunches.” 

The Pricing for meals at Bowie High School comes from the Supplier for Food Procurement. Procurement distributes all the food throughout AISD schools, from elementary through high school. Bowie’s cafeteria team works with Procurement to find the best reduced prices and best cost for families in need of reduced prices or free meals.  

“Families get an email at the beginning of the year with information on how to sign up for reduced or free lunches,” Cafeteria Manager Laurie Womble said. “If not, they can come to the cafeteria and ask for a form from me.” 

With the increase of students at Bowie trying to get and eat the lunches served last year in the cafeteria, there are more students buying lunches this year, because of both the quality and taste of the food, offering three different lines with different types of food in each of them These lines include The Grill, La Cocina, And Fiesta. 

“I really enjoy the chipotle bowls,” Senior Avery Deithlolff said. “They are the best.” While the addition of pricing to the food this year is changing, not all are happy with it, it seems to be positively affecting both the cafeteria and students. 

“It was nice when we didn’t have to worry about it,” Senior Avery Deithloff said. “I think other people might have relied on the free meals more. Some people can’t afford to pay for school lunches everyday.”