Some Miami Valley schools still offering free, reduced meals as universal lunch program ends

The universal lunch program that schools across the country offered to students during the pandemic came to an end this summer.

At several local schools, the administration says free and reduced lunches are still an option if parents do their part.

The free universal lunch program helped millions of families during the pandemic and more than 10,000 families in two schools in the Miami Valley.

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“We have 4,200 students in our district so during the pandemic, all of them received free lunches,” said Troy City Schools Superintendent Chris Piper.

Now things are going back to the way it used to be with students waiting in line for lunch and paying full price for it.

“It’s a little bit of a deer in the headlights, especially if they’re new to it,” said Scott Marshall, Director of Communications for Springboro Schools.

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Parents are able to fill out a form to qualify for free or reduced price lunches. The only issue with the form is people aren’t handing them in.

Considering the price of lunches, school officials encourage parents to get the forms in.

At Springboro High School, the lunch costs $2.65 for upperclassmen.

The National Center for Education statistics states that in Ohio students are in school 180 days of the year, which means lunch costs more than $450 for one student in a single school year.

“That is a direct result from supply chain issues, delivery issues, labor shortages, staffing shortages, all those things add up,” Marshall said.

People might not be handing in the forms because they don’t want others to know they need help.

“There’s a bit of a hesitation for older students and older families,” Piper said. “They’re afraid of some kind of stigma or something.” Anyone in the program remains anonymous.

You can check with your child’s school district for when these federal forms are due, but you’ll want to get them in as soon as possible so your child can take full advantage of the free or reduced lunches.