Two years of free school lunch for all students is ending. Here's what that means for Green Bay students and families
GREEN BAY – After two years, the federal program providing free school meals for all students, regardless of income level, has ended.
This year, Wisconsin students will be back on the pre-pandemic school lunch system where families will have to apply to get free or reduced-price meals or otherwise pay.
During the height of the pandemic when schools were closed, the federal government expanded its summer food programing allowing districts to serve free meals to all students year-round. That expanded version of the program continued once students returned to in-person learning for the 2021-2022 school year.
MORE: Are school lunches free this year? What to know now that pandemic-era meal program is ending
It was an unprecedented trial run at nationwide universal free school lunch, something many student advocates and educators have been pushing for years.
"I think what the last two years have shown us is that we can feed kids and not ask questions about their eligibility," said Caitlin Harrison, the president of the School Nutrition Association of Wisconsin. "There is no other area in the school district that has to ask a student, 'How much do your mom or dad make?' That question, in my opinion, should not even be part of the conversation of whether a student gets fed or not."
The waivers that allowed districts to serve free meals were set to expire in June. Under the wire, Congress passed the Keep Kids Fed Act, which extended the waivers until the end of the summer but free meals were cut from the final version.
That leaves students and families who relied on those free meals in limbo as rising inflation continues to squeeze household finances and push food costs up by an estimated 8.5% to 9.5% this year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Wisconsin children are at higher risk, on-average, of not having reliable access to food than the rest of the nation, and the hunger disparity between Black and white households is one of the largest in the country, according to the Wisconsin Food Security Project.
"I feel that it is going to impact families within the district," said Lynette Kiehnau, the director of food services for the Green Bay School District. "We do understand that school nutrition is very critical to children's success in the school."
The traditional federal meal program for students, the National School Lunch Program, will continue. But that provides free or discounted lunches only to families who are considered low income based on federal guidelines.
A family of four would need to make less than about $51,340 a year to qualify for reduced-price lunches or $36,075 or less to qualify for free meals. That's 185% and 130% of the federal poverty level, respectively.
And families — unless they take part in other state programs like SNAP benefits or the foster care system that automatically enroll them — must navigate a complicated application to see if they qualify for free and reduced lunch.
Families are notified by mail if the application is approved or if they automatically qualify from participation in state programs, Kiehnau said.
Congress scrapped universal free lunch for all, but a different federal program does fund free breakfast and lunch for individual schools or groups of schools where 40% of students are enrolled in a state assistance program.
In the Green Bay School District, 26 out of 42 schools qualify for the Community Eligibility Provision that provides breakfast and lunch at no charge. Four of those schools became eligible this year: the John Dewey Academy of Learning, the NEW School of Innovation, King Elementary and MacArthur Elementary.
Even if your child goes to one of the 26 schools, the district still wants families to apply for free and reduced lunch, Kiehnau said.
"There are other benefits (that both) they will receive and the schools, other than free meals," she said.
For families in the Green Bay School District, all students are served regardless of their ability to pay, Kiehnau said.
"We feel that it's very important that all students are able to receive a nutritious and balanced meal without having money on their account," she said.
Students who don't qualify for free or reduced lunch aren't turned away and are given the same meal as every other student.
To see if your child qualifies for free and reduced lunch, families can request an application from their child's school, apply online via the Parent Portal or download a paper application to turn into the school.
Paper applications were sent by the district to every home in August, and families must reapply every year to receive benefits. There is a 30-day grace period if a student previously qualified to submit a new application.
Here are this year\'s school meal prices for the Green Bay School District:
Elementary lunch prices
Full price: $3
Reduced: 40 cents
Middle school (6th-8th) & high school (9th-12th) lunch prices
Full price: $3.30
Reduced: 40 cents
Elementary & secondary breakfast prices
Full price: $2
Reduced: 30 cents
Danielle DuClos covers k-12 education in the Green Bay area as a Report for America corps member. She is based at the Press-Gazette in Green Bay. To contact her, email dduclos@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @danielle_duclos.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Free school lunches for all students end, what Green Bay needs to know
