CNN
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As soon as Minnesota’s Tracy-area schools resumed charging for breakfast and lunch last year, students began dropping out of the program. Many of their families could not afford to pay up to $2.65 for a daily meal.
“There are kids who didn’t eat because their moms and dads couldn’t afford it,” said Michelle Hawkinson, the school lunch director for the 700-student rural district. “These kids are hungry. This is probably the only nutritious and healthy meal they get for the day.”
But Hawkinson no longer has to worry about children in her district skipping meals. Starting this year, students in Minnesota schools participating in the federal school lunch program will receive free breakfast and lunch, thanks to a law passed by the state Legislature in March. The effort will cost about $200 million a year.
Minnesota is one of nine states that subsidizes breakfast and lunch for students in many schools. California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico and Vermont have also approved permanent universal free meals programs, and Nevada began a two-year effort last year.
Other states are extending free meals to more students. For example, Connecticut and Pennsylvania are offering free breakfast this year. Lawmakers in other states have also introduced bills to establish universal free meal programs.
“There is tremendous momentum for states to move forward with providing free school meals for all,” said Crystal Fitzsimmons, director of school programs at the Food Research and Action Center. “Providing free meals to all students just changes the culture of the cafeteria. (It) increases participation and makes the cafeteria a really positive environment for all students.”
States pay for this effort in different ways. Massachusetts is leveraging revenue from a new millionaire tax to help pay for a $172 million program, and Colorado is using revenue from a new millionaire tax to help pay for a $172 million program, and Colorado is using revenue from a new millionaire tax to help pay for about 172 million dollars per year by limiting state tax deductions for wealthy residents. Collecting billions of dollars. Other states pay from their general funds.
The states’ actions build on the federal government’s COVID-19 pandemic relief program, which provides free meals to all students regardless of income for more than two years.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, about 30 million students received free meals at school during this time, up from about 20 million students who were eligible based on household income before the pandemic.
School nutrition officials say that making cafeteria meals free for all students has minimized the stigma felt by some children who received free meals, and that they are actually receiving breakfast. They are now more likely to eat lunch.
but Pandemic program has expired At the beginning of the last school year. Low-income households once again Fill out an application for free or reduced price mealsMeanwhile, struggling parents who earned too much to qualify had to find a way to pay for their children’s breakfasts and lunches.
Meanwhile, school nutrition staff once again had to distribute forms and convince eligible parents to fill them out, but they also had to deal with mounting. school lunch debt.
On the other hand, the number of children eating meals at school has decreased. On average, about 28.3 million students participated in lunch programs each day in May, down from 30.2 million during the same period last year. Additionally, 14.6 million children participated in breakfast programs, down from 16.1 million.
Chris D’Errico, president of the School Nutrition Association, said many schools are taking a more holistic approach to educating children than just reading, writing and math.
“Research shows that when kids are hungry, they’re not as ready to learn,” said Derico, who is also director of child nutrition for Barbour County Schools in West Virginia.
Annette Nielsen, executive director of the Hunter College New York City Food Policy Center, which tracks the implementation of universal free meals programs across the country, said states are also improving children’s ability to learn so they can He said he recognizes that it can prepare people to enter the workforce.
“There may be an economic cost, but the long-term economic benefit is probably greater in maintaining it,” she says.
Benefits and challenges for schools
In addition to the benefits for children, free breakfast and lunch in school districts means families no longer have to go into food debt.
The end of the federal government’s free meals program caused debt levels to skyrocket. The median reported debt was $5,164 per school district in November, compared to $3,400 at the end of the 2017-18 school year, according to the School Nutrition Association.
At Colorado’s Littleton Public Schools, debt levels soared to $32,000 at the end of last year, said Jessica Gould, director of nutrition services for the 13,000-plus student district in an affluent suburb of Denver. Before the pandemic, it was typically between $4,000 and her $6,000 a year.
“We don’t have to worry about that now. We’re not debt collectors anymore,” Gould said, noting that last year’s taxes were paid by donors. “We can now focus on providing quality meals to our students.”
But the universal free meals program also poses challenges for school districts. Breakfast and lunch prices can no longer be increased even as food, equipment, and labor costs increase. In return, they must pay state reimbursement.
But a bigger problem is that the state program still relies on school districts, which receive federal funding, to cover the cost of meals for children eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Certain state funding for general education also depends on the proportion of low-income students in a school district.
This requires parents to fill out an application, which can be difficult, especially if the school has told families that everyone is eligible for free meals. be.
So far, Gould has received forms from about 1,500 eligible households, but she expects the number to reach more than 2,300.
“Our community is in turmoil,” she said, noting that the district has created a flyer explaining the new universal free meals program. She said, “Just thinking about how to communicate with my family was difficult.”
