(C) Common Dreams
This story was originally published by Common Dreams and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



States that Have Passed Universal Free School Meals (So Far) [1]

['Leah Butz']

Date: 2023-02-21 16:03:41+00:00

If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it is that school children should never go hungry. As parents of children enrolled in New York City public schools know, breakfast and lunch are offered free of charge to all students, no matter their family’s financial circumstances. However, the majority of municipalities in the United States have no such policy. Most American school children do not learn in a school district that offers universal free school lunches. In 2021, Senators Bernie Sanders and Kirsten Gillibrand and Representatives Ilhan Omar and Gwen Moore introduced the Universal School Meals Program Act of 2021, a bill that would permanently provide “free meals to all school children regardless of income.” This bill has not moved since being introduced in the House in 2021, leaving many states to pick up where the federal government left off.

Multiple states have begun to provide free school meals to all students, regardless of income, and many more are considering making the move as per proposed legislation. Three states—California, Colorado, and Maine—have made this policy permanent.

California

California has had universal free school meals since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, having used funding from Congress in 2020 to provide free meals to all students even through unexpected school closures. The policy was then made permanent in the 2022-2023 school year. California was the first state in the nation to pass such legislation. Both breakfast and lunch are provided for students in grades K-12 at all public and charter schools, regardless of financial circumstances. The bill also requires that “high poverty schools” adopt a provision that increases access to the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program (which provide reimbursement to schools providing meals to students below a certain income level) while simultaneously reducing paperwork and other administrative burdens at the local level.

Colorado

Starting in the 2023-2024 school year, Colorado will begin offering public schools the option to provide universal free school breakfasts and lunches to students. Unlike the legislation passed in California and Maine, this policy is not required by all school districts, and was passed via ballot initiative. Participating public schools will be reimbursed for the full cost of all meals provided. The state statute, called Healthy Meals for All Public School Students, also includes language to “provide local food purchasing grants to eligible participating school food authorities; provide funding to participating school food authorities to increase the wages or provide stipends for individuals employed to prepare and serve food; and provide assistance to participating school food authorities through the local school food purchasing technical assistance and education grant program.”

Maine

Public schools in Maine provide free school lunches and breakfasts, as per a bill passed by Maine lawmakers and signed by Governor Janet Mills after pandemic-era federal funding for meals ended. The permanent law took effect in the 2022-2023 school year. The bill also directs the Maine Department of Education to assist school districts in maximizing their federal reimbursement for school meals.

Three other states—Massachusetts, Nevada, and Vermont—have passed universal free school meals only for the 2022-2023 school year.

Massachusetts

While permanent universal free school meals has not yet passed through the Massachusetts legislature, bills in the House and Senate will be revisited in the next legislative session. Lawmakers did, however, extend the pandemic-era universal free school lunch into the 2022-2023 school year.

Nevada

Nevada has used funding from the American Rescue Plan to provide universal free school meals during the 2022-2023 school year, and has approved additional funding to continue the program into the 2023-2024 school year. There is not yet word of any proposed legislation to make the program permanent.

Vermont

On May 31, 2022, Governor Phil Scott signed a bill extending free school meals into the 2022-2023 school year. Furthermore, in 2021 Vermont established a task force to advise on future legislation to make the program permanent. The task force has submitted a report of recommendations to lawmakers to begin providing universal free school meals no later than the 2026-2027 school year.

Twenty-one states are currently planning, drafting, discussing, or negotiating universal free school Meal legislation.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.nycfoodpolicy.org/states-that-have-passed-universal-free-school-meals/

Published and (C) by Common Dreams
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0..

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/commondreams/

You are viewing proxied material from magical.fish. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.