(KNSI) — A piece of legislation for universal school meals is moving forward in the Minnesota House.
The House Education Finance Committee advanced HF5 Wednesday morning, making school meals available to all students free of charge regardless of income status one step closer to reality.
The bill’s author, Representative Sydney Jordan, says the time for HF5 is now because “schools are no longer receiving the resources they need for meals from the federal government. Student lunch debt is racking up across the state. Families are struggling with the cost of food, and they need these meals.”
The bill would make permanent a COVID-19 era policy that allowed schools the flexibility to offer free meals to all students. That policy expired this year.
According to the bill summary, “The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) program allows a school to serve free meals to all of its students. For school sites with at least 62.5 percent free and reduced-price meal programs, the federal funds cover the full costs of providing the meals. Other sites with more than 40 percent free and reduced-price meal eligible students may also join the program, but the federal reimbursement (roughly 60 percent more) is generally not sufficient to fully fund the cost of the meals even though schools participating in CEP reduce costs by eliminating the need to track student meal status and by forgoing the school’s need to undertake any collection activities for unpaid meal debts.”
The plan would first use all available federal dollars and then apply state funds for the difference between the federally determined average cost of a school meal and the federal reimbursement for free breakfast and lunch for all students, regardless of family income. Nationally, students qualify for free meals if their family income is less than 130% of the federal poverty guidelines and for reduced price meals if family income is between 130% and 185% of the FPG.
Those opposed to universal school meal funding say they are concerned about taxpayer sticker shock and wasted food. Proponents of the bill say kids learn better when their stomachs are full, and students who qualify for free or reduced price meals but don’t use the program would be more likely to eat school meals if offered to everyone.
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