Waivers during the COVID-19 pandemic made school lunches free for all K-12 students. About a third of those meals will need to be paid for by families next school year.
As a part of the government’s effort to feed children during the pandemic, the US Department of Agriculture allowed all K-12 students, rather than only those eligible for free or reduced-price meals, to get free school breakfast and lunch no matter their family’s income. The waivers were extended to all students attending schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program. But the extended program will come to a halt at the end of the 2021-22 school year.
In fiscal year 2019, 29.6 million students received a free or reduced lunch each school day or 52.1% of all public school students. This number dropped to 22.6 million in fiscal year 2020 due to school closures caused by the pandemic. Although the count of students receiving free or reduced lunches dropped, the percentage of all students getting meals through the program increased in the last two years.
