Idaho students have eaten for free at school for two years. That’s changing next year
For the past two years, students in Treasure Valley schools have been able to get free meals as part of a federal program launched during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But those pandemic meal waivers expired at the end of the school year, meaning this fall, students will need to pay full price unless they qualify or apply for free and reduced-price meals.
It’s a change some worry could result in more kids going without food.
“The loss of free meals, I feel, is going to put many students at risk of going hungry, especially at a time when families will be struggling with the rising costs in our valley,” said Christy Smith, food and nutrition services supervisor in the Boise School District. “(It’s) bad timing all the way around for families.”
Districts in the region are also raising their meal prices for the upcoming school year, in part because of the rising cost of food and supply chain issues that they said make it unsustainable for them to leave their prices as they are.
Still, school districts in the Treasure Valley said they make it a priority to feed all students who need a meal — regardless of whether they qualify for free and reduced-price meals. They said they’ll continue to work with families even without the waivers.
How to qualify for free and reduced price meals
Before students head back to school in the fall, districts are working to get the word out to families on what the changes are this year and how their children can get free and reduced-price meals at school.
Families can qualify in two ways. Through direct certification, families who already qualify for other services are automatically eligible for free or reduced-price meals. That includes Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a federal nutrition-assistance program for low-income households.
Families who aren’t already enrolled in other services and are eligible need to apply directly. Over the past two years, families haven’t needed to fill out those forms, and for younger students, this could be the first time families have to do it.
Crystal FitzSimons, director of school and out-of-school time programs at the Food Research & Action Center based in Washington, D.C., said there is also an administrative burden on schools that have to process those applications.
“It’s going to be even more difficult this year because so many families have never filled out a school meal application,” she said. “Those who have, have not done it for the last couple of years.”
To meet the income eligibility requirements for reduced-priced meals at school, a family of four would need to make less than $51,338 a year, which is 185% of the federal poverty guideline. To qualify for free meals, a family of four would need to make less than $36,075 annually, 130% of the federal poverty level.
“We know there’s a gap of families that don’t qualify for services but yet are in need,” Smith said, “and it’s a hard place to be.”
Districts said they are committed to helping any student who needs a meal, and connecting them to services. But they expect to see some confusion, especially at the start of the year.
Cortney Stauffer, executive director of operations in the Nampa School District, said he expects “some hiccups,” likely at the beginning of the year, when parents will need to plan for their children’s lunches for the first time in years. Stauffer told the Statesman that the school district wants to plan for those hiccups “to the best of our ability so it makes less of an impact.”
As in previous years, any family who qualified for free and reduced-price meals last year will continue to get that benefit for the first 30 days of the year, even if they haven’t filled out the application again. The buffer period provides families with extra time to get a new application in.
But because so few families filled out applications since the pandemic started, the number of students who can take advantage of that carryover period will be more limited this year.
“We did not get a lot of applications last year,” Smith said. “Why would we? There was no incentive to fill out applications last year.”
School district officials in the Treasure Valley said they have also seen more kids take advantage of school meals over the past few years, while the waivers were in place. Some districts, such as Boise and West Ada, saw increases of 15% to 20% in the number of students getting meals at school. The Nampa School District expects to see 50% fewer students eating breakfast at school and 15% fewer eating school lunch without the waivers, said Michelle Eggers, nutrition services director for the district.
Districts said they expect to see a decline in the number of kids eating meals at school now that the waivers have ended, combined with the uptick in meal prices.
Treasure Valley schools increase meal costs
The Boise, West Ada and Nampa school districts all plan to increase their meal prices next school year to keep up with rising costs.
In the Boise School District, prices for school lunches will go up 10 cents next year for breakfast and lunch compared to the 2019 school year, the last year students paid for meals. The lunch prices will sit at $2.60 for elementary students and $3.10 for middle and high school students.
“It was such a difficult decision for us,” Smith said. “I felt like we couldn’t win either way.”
She said the district tried to find a way to keep prices the same, but with supply chain problems, meal prices have gone up “exponentially.”
“There really was no good answer to increase or not to increase,” Smith said. “If we don’t increase, it becomes unsustainable to not be able to cover your basic costs, and no business can run that way. But at the same time, we understand the impact even such a small price increase will have on families.”
In the West Ada School District, lunch prices will rise between 10 and 30 cents per meal for elementary, middle and high school students.
For elementary students in the district, lunch will cost $2.80. For high school students, lunch will cost $3.35. Breakfast prices will rise by 50 cents.
McCarthy said the district is keeping prices as reasonable as it can.
“What we’re trying to get them to is a very reasonable cost for a family to feed their child at school for the week,” she said.
The Nampa School District won’t change its prices for breakfast, but will raise its lunch prices by 85 cents per meal compared to the 2019-2020 school year. The meals will cost $3.10 for elementary and middle school students and $3.35 for high school students.
Nampa previously had some of the lowest school meal prices in the Treasure Valley. In a notice to the school board last month, the Nampa School District said the USDA Paid Lunch Equity requirements have “been flagging our prices as too low,” and the Idaho State Department of Education’s child nutrition division had been asking the district to increase its prices to “keep pace with the federal reimbursement rate for free and reduced meals.”
“As everyone has experienced, the district’s food and supply costs have been escalating,” the notice to the school board said. “We need the increased cost to offset the increased cost of the food and supplies to prepare and serve the meals.”
Stauffer said the district has long served meals at prices lower than other districts in the region.
“Now as we’re seeing the increased costs of food, we just haven’t been able to keep that price level as low as we once were able to,” he said.
Schools promise to feed students
Even with the increases, school districts said they would do everything they could to feed every kid.
“Nobody’s going to be denied a meal,” Smith said. “All students will be fed if they show up in a cafeteria, they’re going to get a meal.”
McCarthy said her team scans the cafeterias and if there are kids coming through the lunch line who don’t have a lunch, they work with the student and always feed them.
The district has funding from the education foundation that can help pick up some of those meal charges. Families who have money left over on their students’ accounts sometimes donate it to help families who need it.
“Our main objective is to feed students regardless of what their status is,” she said. “My whole team, that’s what we want to do every day. We want to feed students.”
The Boise School District’s program also accepts donations to help cover the cost for families who can’t afford to pay for their meals.
Students who receive school meals are more likely to have better educational outcomes, health, attendance and behavior, said Crystal FitzSimons, director of school and out-of-school time programs at the Food Research & Action Center based in Washington, D.C.
“We know that school lunch provides some of the healthiest meals that kids eat,” she told the Statesman. “And so if all of a sudden your kids are not participating because they’re being (priced) out, then that connection disappears.”
She said there are a growing number of efforts in states across the country pushing to make school meals free for all students after schools have seen the benefits during the pandemic.
“There are children in our community who are hungry and don’t know where their next meal is coming from,” Smith said. “We don’t care who you are, we don’t care what your money is. We want to feed you. We want to make sure you’re going to be OK so that you can learn and perform in school.”
Resources
Boise School District nutrition website
Application for free and reduced price meals
Nampa School District nutrition website
This story was originally published July 28, 2022 at 12:56 PM.
