Free school meals are coming to an end in some school districts. Here's what to know.

After a two-year pause in school lunch charges, parents will want tocheck in on theirkids’ meal accounts before sending them back to school this August.

Federal nutrition waivers allowing schools to provide free meals to all students will come to an end this summer, meaning parents will once again need to fill up their kids’ accounts if they plan to eat school breakfasts or lunches.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture extended waivers to schools at the start of the coronavirus pandemic allowing all students, regardless of socioeconomic status, to eat meals free of charge.

The waivers, extended through last school year, however, are now coming to an end and several Michiana area schools are making plans to increase their meal prices.

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Rates in Mishawaka are increasing 15 cents to 30 cents per meal depending on the student’s school and meal type. Prices this year will be $1.50 for breakfast and $2.50 for lunch in elementary schools and $1.75 for breakfast and $2.75 for lunch in secondary schools.

In Penn-Harris-Madison schools, rates are increasing 5 cents to 25 cents depending on the meal. Students will be charged $1.25 for breakfast and $2.25 for lunch in elementary schools and $1.50 for breakfast and $2.50 for lunch at the secondary level.

Mishawaka school officials say that despite the increase this year, their prices fall below the USDA's recommended target rate of $3.31.

Linda Cupp, food service director for Mishawaka, said the district hasn't increased its meal prices in several years. With the rising cost of products and delivery fees, however, Cupp said, the district needed to make a change this year.

As in many districts, meals in Mishawaka took on a bit of different look last school year amid supply chain issues. Cupp said she's hopeful the summer has brought time for challenges such as food delivery and staffing shortages to be worked out.

"We take our food costs and we try to add in staffing costs and we try to keep it as affordable as we can for our community," Cupp said.

Free meals for South Bend

Although prices will go up for some families in St. Joseph County, South Bend will continue to offer free breakfast and lunch to all students enrolled in its district.

All schools in the district are, for the first time, participating in a federal program called the Community Eligibility Provision, which allows certain schools and corporations to offer free meals based on a calculation of homelessness and migrant youth counts, free and reduced meal price eligibility, and other U.S. Census data and income eligibility requirements.

Though other factors are considered in the CEP program, around 65% of students in the South Bend district would be eligible for free and reduced-price meals if the corporation were to charge, making it among one of the highest-need districts in the region.

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In past years, most schools in the district offered free meals, but schools like Adams, Kennedy and LaSalle, didn’t qualify. Kareemah Fowler, assistant superintendent of business and finance for South Bend schools, said corporation leaders launched a campaign to educate families on the importance of filling out free and reduced-price meal forms, which play a role in determining eligibility for the free meals program and other federal money.

That effort, Fowler said, helped the district cross the threshold needed to offer free meals in all of its buildings beginning this school year.

"The big goal is to make sure the community is stabilized 100% and making sure kids have their basic needs met so that we can get outcomes, so that we can get back to pre-pandemic levels," Fowler said. "If that's one less thing families have to worry about, that's better for us, so that we can just focus on … classroom learning."

Free and reduced pricing available

All schools offer free and reduced meal rates to families meeting certain income requirements, and administrators are encouraging families who think they are eligible to submit forms early so students can be prepared for the start of the year.

In Penn-Harris-Madison, information about eligibility and registration can be found on the district's website. Paper forms may also be printed and submitted to a child's school, and some families within the district, including those who receive federal SNAP, TANF or some Medicaid benefits, may be directly certified for assistance.

Mishawaka is similarly using a web-based platform for free and reduced price forms this year. For the first time, families will be able to register online using a website called MySchoolApps.com, or pick up a form at a student's school building.

Though all South Bend district students will eat free this year, administrators are still encouraging families to submit free and reduced-priced meal eligibility forms. Schools often use the number of families eligible for free and reduced-price meals as support for other forms of federal funding, and, in many districts, the forms also help families qualify for textbook fee assistance.

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A typical textbook fee in South Bend is about $120 for middle school students, Fowler said. That fee can vary based on grade level and a student's course load.

Some before- and after-school care programs also may fall outside of the district's federal funding, South Bend administrators said, so getting free and reduced-price meal applications in for those students is also important. Forms for South Bend students are available online and in students' schools.

District leaders say the best time to get forms filled out is before the start of the school year so students are ready to go with meals planned for in advance. However, many say they’ll continue accepting applications past the start of the year.

P-H-M will allow a 30-day grace period for completing free and reduced-price meal applications and Mishawaka will accept the forms on a rolling basis.

Cupp said she expects the first couple of weeks to be a transition, but that the district will be flexible with families as they grow used to filling out applications and reloading accounts again.

"We'll have applications readily available for parents as they need them. We're going to have little postcards that we can give out to let them know how to apply online," Cupp said. "We're going to take it one day at a time."

Email South Bend Tribune education reporter Carley Lanich at clanich@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @carleylanich.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Free school meals to end in some districts. Here's what to know.