Schools struggle 3 years after end of universal free school meals

Three years ago, the federal government ended a pandemic-era policy that allowed schools to offer free meals to all students. 

In the years since, many schools have had to go back to pre-pandemic normal: most students pay, while those who meet eligibility requirements get free or reduced-price school meals. Though some are still struggling with the end of these universal meals. 

At lunchtime at Cheshire High School in Cheshire, Connecticut, students scoop up burger bowls and chicken chipotle paninis, then head to the cash registers.

Depending on their final selection, their lunches can cost in the ballpark of $4.50 to $5.50, but around 18% of the students in the district don’t pay that full price because they’re eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Federal funds cover the difference through reimbursements.

Eligibility for these free and reduced-price meals is a means-tested program, which means income and resources are taken into account when deciding eligibility.

There are a few ways students can become eligible. Students whose families receive benefits through certain programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP, qualify. As do kids experiencing homelessness, for example.

Families can also submit a school meal-specific application, which asks about household size and income.

To receive meals for free, a family of four (which could mean one adult and three kids, or two adults and two kids) would need to have a gross income of less than $41,795, before taxes. 

Students who are eligible for reduced-price meals at Cheshire pay just $0.40 for lunch. To be eligible, a household of four needs an income under $59,478. Again, that’s before taxes.

“That is low,” explained Erica Biagetti, director of Food & Nutrition Services at Cheshire Public Schools, pointing to the rising cost of food and the increasing minimum wage in the state.

Biagetti worries about families with incomes just above that threshold. They used to get school meals for free when they were offered universally during the pandemic, but now don’t qualify. If they have multiple kids, that means they have to set aside $1,000 or more every school year for meals.

“They’re having to make those tough decisions of, ‘What am I going to send for lunch? What bills do I pay? What am I going to do here?’” said Biagetti.

If families don’t pay, then schools are on the hook for the difference.

According to the School Nutrition Association, the amount of this “unpaid meal debt” they’re having to cover is rising.

In a 2018 survey, the median school nutrition program reported an unpaid meal balance of $3,400. In fall of 2024, that median balance was $6,900.

Even in Connecticut — which has one of the highest per capita incomes in the country — Biagetti said her district had to cover more than $25,000 in unpaid meal debt last school year. 

“Sometimes there’s a generous donor from the local community, like a local supermarket, that will pay this off, but more often than not, this ends up being paid off by the school district,” explained Juliana Cohen, adjunct professor of nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a professor of nutrition and director of the Center for Health Innovation, Research, and Policy at Merrimack College.

Cohen, who researches school nutrition policy, said that paying off meal balances can affect other school services.

“Sometimes, they pay it off from the student activity fund. So this can impact things like afterschool sports,” Cohen said. “But sometimes it also comes from the general academic fund, and so this can be the difference between being able to afford an additional teacher or not.”

Some states, including California and New York, have stepped into the gap left when the federal government ended universal free meals. They’ve done so by passing laws dedicating state money to funding the difference between eligibility-based reimbursements and the cost of the meals. 

Even among states that have committed to offer the meals, however, the cost has been difficult to manage.

Colorado, for example, passed a statewide Healthy School Meals for All program.

“They saw much higher participation rates than they anticipated, which meant much higher costs that they had not anticipated,” explained Urban Institute senior research associate Emily Gutierrez, who worked on a report considering possible policy solutions to address the budget shortfall.

In November, Colorado voters will consider propositions that, if passed, would raise the amount of taxes collected from high earners by reducing deductions. The increased revenue would go towards the state’s free meal program.

Meanwhile, in Connecticut, Erica Biagetti and her colleagues in Cheshire’s Food & Nutrition department are already facing more than $10,000 in unpaid meal debt just a few weeks into this school year. She said the amount outpaces the balance accrued by this time last school year. 

As a result, they’re making difficult calls home to families with high balances.

“It is a requirement, so we do handle it with as much grace as we can with families, but no, I did not sign up for nutrition thinking I’d be calling and asking for money,” Biagetti explained.

She added that she remains hopeful that more states, Connecticut included, will find a way to fund universal meals once more, like they do for other school services. 

“Every student gets a ride on the bus. You are secured a seat, no matter if you have a vehicle at home or you don't. You're given a Chromebook, even if you have a computer at home,” Biagetti said. “You're given the tools that you need to succeed in your school day, and I do feel that a school meal is … that essential.”

In the meantime, Biagetti said she and her team will keep using the calls as an opportunity to support students however they can: including helping eligible households with school meal and benefits applications, and connecting families with soup kitchens, food banks, and other forms of assistance.