The pandemic paved the way for students to have access to free and reduced meals, but reversals in many districts changed that. Now, students simply aren’t eating, but it’s not their fault, a new report suggests.
The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) published data this month revealing participation rates in school meals among students across 91 large school districts, which include those with enrollment greater than 7,000 students.
On average, daily breakfast participation decreased by more than 100,000 students and more than 250,000 students during lunch. According to the authors of the report, this dip between April 2022 and October 2022 is likely the aftermath of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s decision to expire the Seamless Summer Option (SSO) waiver that gave schools the ability to feed all of their students for free and receive a higher meal reimbursement rate.
“As a result, most districts had to return to a tiered eligibility system that requires them to collect, process and verify school meal applications, and millions of children lost access to free school meals,” the report reads.
To ensure students have access to meals, the report suggests, leaders must find ways to expand universal free meals for students. For instance, California, Maine and Vermont have enacted “Health School Meals for All” policies. Additionally, at least 7,000 schools have implemented the “Community Eligibility Provision” (CEP), which helps high-need districts and schools offer breakfast and lunch at no charge to students.
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“Despite efforts to sustain and expand students’ access to school meals, districts continued to face a multitude of challenges that affected participation and program eligibility,” the report declares. “Rising food costs, labor shortages, and supply chain disruptions, coupled with the return of charging for meals, have contributed to reports of declining participation in many school districts.”
The report concludes with three policy recommendations for leaders and advocates who want to explore options for providing free meals to their students:
- Find ways to make school meals available to every student for free. This may require bold, permanent legislative action.
- Increase school meal reimbursements.
- Support breakfast after the bell models. This will help ensure students have greater access to the nutrition needed for academic excellence.
