Pupils at a Palmerton Area School District elementary school could receive free breakfast and lunch in the 2014-15 school year.

About 200 pupils would receive the free meals in kindergarten and first grade at the Parkside Education Center next year if the district's application for the Community Eligibility Provision is approved.District business manager Diane Serfass announced at a recent school board workshop session that the district has until June 30 to apply for the provision.According to the Food Research and Action Center, "Community Eligibility" is a powerful new tool to ensure that low-income children in high-poverty neighborhoods have access to healthy meals at school.Established in the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, the option allows schools in high-poverty areas to offer nutritious meals through the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Program to all students at no charge.More than 2,200 high-poverty schools serving nearly 1 million children in seven states one in 10 children across these states operated under community eligibility during the 2012-13 school year.Community eligibility will be available to all schools where 40 percent or more of the students are Identified Students as of April 1 of the previous school year.Serfass said that the Parkside Education Center is the only building in the district that qualifies for the provision. The program, new to the state, is guaranteed for a four-year period, she said.However, during those four years, Serfass said the district will have an opportunity to change its percentage if it goes higher, and would have the opportunity to quit the program at any time throughout.Directors Josann Harry and Sherry Haas appeared to be in favor of the program.However, Director Susan Debski said she believes the program could cause a stir with some families."I think there's going to be public dissatisfaction with this," Debski said. "Even though it's good, it's kind of discriminatory."More information on the program is available at frac.org.CapitalAssessment PlanSerfass also informed the board of a component of the district's Capital Assessment Plan.At present, Serfass said there are three cooking kettles in the junior high/senior high school complex that are in need of replacement.They would be replaced with two 40-gallon tilt kettles at a cost of $46,324, which would come out of the cafeteria fund, Serfass said.That figure is about $50,000 less than an initial quote that was obtained, she said.The item will be put on the June 17 board agenda for approval.Board Room Sound SystemAlso discussed was the potential installation of a sound system for the board room, where presently no such means of communication exists.Dan Heaney, director of technology, said two quotes were obtained for a sound system; one from Eastern Time for $7,300, and the other from Light Speed Technologies for $7,600.Heaney said he favored the quote from Eastern Time, which would come with microphones on tables so that meetings could be recorded.There is money set aside to pay for the sound system, Heaney said.The matter will be put on the board agenda Tuesday for approval.