Universal free school meals bring wins and challenges for K-12 operators

As soon as Maine adopted free school meals for all, Jeanne Lapointe Food Service Director for RSU 10 in Rumford, Maine, noticed a change. 

“The culture in our schools is so positive,” she said during a panel at the School Nutrition Association’s (SNA) Annual National Conference (ANC) in Boston this week. “Our administrators are so thrilled that money is no longer the issue that we are able to provide and nourish our students throughout the school day and our children can no longer feel that additional stress as well.”

Eight states have enacted universal free school meal programs to allow all students to enjoy free breakfast and lunch at school and many more states are working to make free school meals for all a reality. While those programs have helped students get the meals they need to excel in the classroom, operators have had to think on their feet and adapt quickly as they deal with more students coming down the lunch line. 

Hard but good work 

When speaking with her fellow directors across the state, Lapointe said that many were working on ramping up things like staffing and equipment to handle the increase in participation that universal free meals has brought. 

One resource that has aided many operators has been grant funding.  

“[That] has been extremely helpful for schools across the state,” she noted. 

In Colorado, which started its universal free meals program this past school year, Director of School Nutrition Services for Aurora Public Schools Shannon Solomon has also dealt with challenges related to the expansion universal free meals. 

While she and her team prepared “as much as they could” they still were not ready, Solomon told attendees during the same panel. 

In order make the early days of the program go as smoothly as possible, Shannon and her team would spend a lot of time in debriefing sessions where they discussed what was working and what wasn’t. 

“We used the start, stop and continue model: What should we start doing immediately that's an immediately need? What do we need to stop doing? What did we think we needed to do but we need to stop doing right away? And then, what do we continue doing that we're doing well,” she said. 

As the team enters their second year of universal free meals, Shannon has continued her to make sure her team is fully staffed and ready for the fall. 

“For all the directors that are up here who say, ‘Free meals are so great and so easy.’ No, it is work but it's good work.”

The work continues 

The work also continues for school nutrition professionals in states that have yet to pass universal free meal legislation. 

In North Dakota last year, lawmakers approved legislation to temporarily expand the reduced-price meal category to families at or below 200% of the federal poverty level during the 2023-24 school year. 

The achievement was a team effort said Michelle Wagner, Child Nutrition Director for Bismarck Public Schools, and involved the work of school nutrition professionals, teachers and others in the community. 

“You need to incorporate everybody from all different perspectives, to really get [lawmakers] to understand,” she shared during the panel. “I think with all of these different voices, that's how we got that to that 200% of the poverty line.”

Looking toward the future, Wagner and other school nutrition professionals are continuing to push for the expansion of free school meal access. While they would love to see the state adopt universal free meals for all, realistically, they may have to compromise for something smaller. 

“Maybe it's 300% of the poverty line or 400% of the poverty line? Maybe it's free breakfast for all? Just starting with something small is what I think we're going to have to keep working on for the future,” she said.