When classrooms in California reopen for the fall term, all 6.2 million public school students will have the option of free school meals, regardless of their family’s income.
The undertaking, made possible by an unexpected budget surplus, will be the largest free student lunch program in the country.
School officials, lawmakers, anti-hunger organizations and parents are applauding it as a pioneering way to prevent the stigma of accepting free lunches and to feed more hungry children.
Director of food services for the San Luis Coastal Unified School District on California’s central coast, Erin Primer, lauded the move adding that it was beyond life-changing.
Several U.S. cities including New York, Boston and Chicago, already offer free school meals for all but until recently, statewide universal meal programs were considered too costly and unrealistic.
California became the first state to adopt a universal program late last month, and Maine followed shortly with a similar plan.
Under federal rules, a family of four must make less than $34,000 a year to qualify for free meals and $48,000 to qualify for reduced-price meals.
The caps shift annually but are based on federal poverty measures that do not take into account the high cost of living and taxes in California.
About 60% of California students qualify, but experts say the number of children who need food assistance is much higher in a state with vast income inequality.
After schools shut in March 2020, many transformed their parking lots into pickup sites, and federal funding allowed schools to offer meals to anyone. There were no applications or qualifications, and no questions were asked.
The massive turnout showed how much families rely on the meals.
Schools rarely turn hungry kids away but for children who did not qualify and needed lunch, their parents were billed and many racked up huge debts.
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