School meals are proven to support academic achievement, reduce absenteeism and improve students’ attention and behavior in the classroom. Since school meals are the healthiest meals America’s children eat, these programs are also critical asset in chronic disease prevention. Ensuring every student has access to free, nutritious school meals as part of their education is a smart investment in the health and future of our nation’s children.
The federal Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) allows schools in high-poverty areas to offer free school breakfast and lunch to all students without cumbersome applications. CEP ensures every student is nourished and ready to learn and eliminates stigma and student lunch debt. School nutrition professionals have more time to focus on nourishing students, without having to worry about verifying which child is eligible for a free meal and which child must pay.
A recent SNA survey found that school districts that must charge for meals report a wide range of challenges:
- unpaid school meal charges/debt (cited by 96.8%)
- families in need not receiving free or reduced-price meals (89.3%)
- paperwork/administrative burden (88.7%)
- students going hungry/choosing not to eat (73.5%)
Protecting CEP and expanding access to healthy school meals for all students will address these challenges and support millions of America’s working families burdened by high food prices and inflation. SNA supports federal and state proposals to advance this goal, including:
- Increase the CEP multiplier: Under CEP’s funding formula, the program is only financially viable for schools with high percentages of students who automatically qualify for free meals because their families participate in federal income-based programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Increasing the multiplier will enable more schools to participate, allowing more students to benefit from healthy school meals.
- Eliminate the reduced-price category: Many families eligible for reduced-price meals struggle to afford the co-pay. Allowing these families to receive free meals will ensure at-risk students can receive healthy school meals, without incurring unpaid meal debt.
- Raise the free meal eligibility threshold: In School Year 2024/25, a family of four earning a dollar more than $57,720 is ineligible for any meal assistance. Since free and reduced-price meal applications only collect income data, even those struggling with high health care costs, rent increases or emergency expenses would not qualify.
SNA’s 2025 Position Paper urges Congress to protect CEP and expand access to healthy school meals for all students.