Even before the pandemic nutrition advocates were pushing for a universal system that would offer school meals regardless of income. Advocates said the existing system stigmatizes students who receive free meals and can cause families to carry lunch debt.
Students eat lunch at Albert D. Lawton Intermediate School in Essex Junction, Vt., on June 9. The pandemic-era federal aid that made school meals available for free to all public school students — regardless of family income levels — is ending, raising fears about the effects in the upcoming school year for families already struggling with rising food and fuel costs.
About 30% of the student population here qualifies for free or reduced lunch, mirroring data from the whole Boise School District system. But the other 70% are now responsible for paying their own way for breakfast and lunch. “Our families in Boise can’t afford even a modest price increase,” Smith said. “Boise’s become a very expensive place to live and even 10 cents sounds modest, but that’s a lot of money to families who can’t pay their bills right now and don’t qualify for free or reduced-price meals.”In nearby West Ada — Idaho’s largest school district, where only 14% of the student population fully qualifies for free and reduced-price meals — prices will increase by 30 cents.
“A mom and dad making $15 an hour with a family of three — they don’t qualify,” McCarthy Beasley said. This means all schools will go back to requiring that families pay the full price for each meal if they do not qualify for free or reduced-price meals. In Colorado, some schools are raising their meal prices by 50 cents. For families with multiple kids, it adds up.
Lawmakers waited until just days before all the waivers expired on June 30 to pass the bill that extended some waivers but left free school meals out. Congressional delay in extending, or not extending, pandemic school meal waivers also hindered schools’ ability to plan.
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