In today’s public school environment, ensuring school meal access is more important than ever. For children, teachers, and families to succeed, it is vital that all students are well-nourished at school. Unfortunately, various barriers to participation are causing student hunger, meal debt for families, and administrative burdens for schools. In the United States, 9.3 million children currently face food insecurity, impacting their health, well-being, and learning, and potentially affecting their future competitiveness in the global workforce.

To address these challenges, the federal government has five primary programs to feed school-age children: the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), the School Breakfast Program (SBP), the Child and Adult Care Food Program, the Seamless Summer Option, and the Summer Food Service Program. Each program has distinct meal costs, eligibility requirements, and reimbursement processes. The current eligibility criteria may not fully consider families’ complex socioeconomic realities, leading to around 1.54 million students who must pay for full-price meals they cannot afford, accumulating an average yearly meal debt of $170.13 per child.

During the first two years of the pandemic, schools were allowed to serve free, fully reimbursed meals to all students through U.S. Department of Education Waivers. Unfortunately, these waivers expired at the beginning of the 2022-23 school year, leaving schools with greater administrative and financial difficulties in providing healthy and affordable meals to students in need.

The challenges in paid school meal programs start with school meal applications, where many families need to prove eligibility, leading to issues such as limited English proficiency and hesitancy to provide sensitive information. Moreover, school meal debt exists across the income spectrum, causing administrative burdens for schools and stigmatization among children. The pandemic further exacerbated these issues, with inflation, rising food costs, staffing shortages, and families being unprepared to return to pre-pandemic processes.

Offering no-cost meals to all students is an effective solution, with studies showing numerous benefits for students, families, and schools. It improves attendance rates, reduces suspensions, positively affects student health, and boosts test scores, among other advantages. Families with access to free school meals may also see declines in grocery spending and reduced food insecurity. Moreover, no-cost meals help schools reduce administrative burdens associated with collecting applications and tracking meal debt.

Five states—California, Maine, Colorado, Minnesota, and New Mexico—have independently taken action to serve free school meals to all students. California and Maine have allocated funds to cover meal expenses not covered by federal reimbursements, while Colorado will implement its program in the 2023-24 school year. Minnesota and New Mexico have recently signed legislation making free school meals permanently available.

Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont have passed temporary universal school meals legislation for the 2022-23 academic year, and Nevada has passed legislation extending universal school meals through the 2023-24 school year. While these state-level actions are commendable, a fully funded nationwide free school meal program is necessary to provide nutritious meals to all food-insecure children and eliminate the logistical hurdles associated with meal certification.

The current paid school meal system presents significant challenges that require comprehensive solutions. States’ efforts to implement no-cost meal programs demonstrate the benefits for students, families, and school staff but a fully funded nationwide program, implemented equitably and effectively, is the true solution. Until such a program is in place, students and schools will continue to rely on state governments for relief.