Wake County leaders want to expand free school meals to as many students as possible, regardless of family income.
Administrators briefed the school board Tuesday on a plan to potentially add another 28 schools to the federal government’s universal school meals program. That would triple the number of schools now offering free universal meals, but still represent a fraction of the district’s schools.
The expansion is being promoted as a way to improve student health, attendance and academic performance by ensuring access to nutritious meals.
“Quality nutrition for children has a direct impact on student achievement,” Superintendent Robert Taylor said at a news conference Tuesday. “What we know is that a well-nourished body and well-hydrated brain make it much more conducive to learning.”
Taylor and other school leaders met Tuesday with Cindy Long, administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service, to share their concerns about child nutrition. Long and Taylor later had lunch with students from Kingswood Elementary School in Cary.
The free meal exemption has ended
Under the traditional federal school lunch program, students can qualify for a free or reduced-price meal if their family income is low enough. Other students pay the full meal price set by the school.
During the pandemic, the federal government waived rules to provide free meals to all students in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years.
But that exemption ended last school year.
Since then, school meal prices have continued to rise. Wake schools across the country have also faced complaints about students being given alternative meals of fruit and vegetables if they don’t have enough money in their account.
There is a federal program called Community Eligibility Provision, where all students attending an eligible school are eligible for free breakfast and lunch.
The Biden administration has lowered eligibility requirements to allow more school districts to qualify. Durham Public Schools is using the new rules to try to make all its schools eligible for free meals, The News & Observer previously reported.
Academic benefits of free meals
Twelve Wake schools currently participate in the CEP program. The additional 28 schools this fall would mean that 40 of Wake’s 198 schools would offer universal meals.
The federal government reimburses schools at a higher rate if they participate in the CEP program.
According to Paula De Lucca, Wake’s senior director for Child Nutrition Services, it’s not just a financial benefit for school systems.
Research shows that students in North Carolina schools who participate in CEP perform better academically, according to the Carolina Education Policy Initiative.
The universal meals also eliminate meal costs for students and ease the concerns of parents who don’t want to fill out the paperwork to apply for a subsidized meal.
Universal meals for all NC students
Universal meals also make schools more equitable, De Lucca said. She said the CEP program can remove the stigma that causes some people to think school meal programs are only for students who need financial assistance.
“If it’s free meals for everyone in school, that does provide an opportunity to increase participation for all children,” Taylor told school board members. “Now you don’t have the stigma of free versus who doesn’t.”
Taylor and a coalition of groups are backing an effort to ask state lawmakers to fund universal free meals for all public school students in North Carolina.
“The total cost that would reportedly cover the entire state of North Carolina for free breakfast and lunch was $125 million (per year),” said school board member Sam Hershey. “I just want to emphasize that number, which is a very small number compared to the budget and the surplus that we currently have.”
