Carroll County families can cross lunch money off their back-to-school to-do lists. The district will provide free breakfast and lunch to every student starting in the 2025-2026 school year, regardless of family income.
🍎 Why It Matters: This eliminates a significant expense for thousands of families and removes the paperwork hassle of applying for meal assistance. No more lunch debt, no more applications, no more kids going to school hungry.
📋 What’s Happening: Carroll County Schools qualified for the Community Eligibility Program, which kicks in when districts have high percentages of low-income students.
• The program lets schools serve free meals to everyone without collecting income applications
• Families won’t need to fill out any paperwork for the 2025-2026 school year
🎯 The Big Picture: This reflects a broader trend of Georgia school districts adopting universal free meal programs. The approach recognizes that hunger doesn’t discriminate and that feeding all kids removes barriers to learning.
The Sources: Carroll County Schools.
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Before You Dismiss This Article…
We live in a time when information feels overwhelming, but here’s what hasn’t changed: facts exist whether they comfort us or not.
When A&W launched their third-pound burger to compete with McDonald’s Quarter Pounder in the 1980s, it failed spectacularly. Not because it tasted worse, but because customers thought 1/3 was smaller than 1/4. If basic math can trip us up, imagine how easily we can misread complex news.
The press isn’t against you when it reports something you don’t want to hear. Reporters are thermometers, not the fever itself. They’re telling you what verified sources are saying, not taking sides. Good reporting should challenge you — that’s literally the job.
Next time a story makes you angry, pause. Ask yourself: What evidence backs this up? Am I reacting with my brain or my gut? What would actually change my mind? And most importantly, am I assuming bias just because the story doesn’t match what I hoped to hear.
Smart readers choose verified information over their own comfort zone.
B.T. Clark
B.T. Clark is an award-winning journalist and the Publisher of The Georgia Sun. He has 25 years of experience in journalism and served as Managing Editor of Neighbor Newspapers in metro Atlanta for 15 years and Digital Director at Times-Journal Inc. for 8 years. His work has appeared in several newspapers throughout the state including Neighbor Newspapers, The Cherokee Tribune and The Marietta Daily Journal. He is a Georgia native and a fifth-generation Georgian.
