No more free lunches. Centre County schools urge parents to sign up for free and reduced meals

When school starts later this month, lunches across Centre County will no longer be free for all students.

For the past two years, the federal government has covered the cost of school meals for all students. This year, Congress declined to extend the program, meaning families will have to start paying for lunches again or sign up for free and reduced meal programs.

Now, educators and legislators are asking the state government to step in. Members of the State Senate Education Committee sent a letter on Monday to Gov. Tom Wolf asking for emergency administrative action to extend free meals for the 2022-2023 school year.

”The end of the federal waivers will be especially difficult for families who fall just outside the USDA’s income-eligibility guidelines,” stated the letter, signed by state Sen. Lindsey Williams, D-Allegheny, Sen. Jim Brewster, D-Allegheny, Sen. Carolyn Comitta, D-Chester, and Sen. Tim Kearney, D-Delaware. “Additionally, some schools are being forced to raise meal prices, meaning that families who were paying before the pandemic will now pay more when the waivers expire.”

If Wolf takes action, Pennsylvania would join California, Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont in also covering school meal costs in place of the federal assistance. Nevada, New York, Minnesota, Colorado have all proposed free school meal programs as well.

The Wolf administration is “carefully reviewing the Senate Education Committee’s letter, and continues to explore all options available to the administration to promote food security for our children and our commonwealth,” a spokesperson for the governor’s office told the CDT in an email Friday.

Wolf has previously called on Congress and the federal government to extend federal waivers.

”Additionally, the Pennsylvania Department of Education has applied for all available waivers, and will distribute $25M to schools to supplement their school meal spending this fall,” the governor’s office wrote.

School districts brace for change

For now, schools across Centre County are urging eligible families to sign up for free and reduced lunches before the start of the school year. Families who were a part of the program last year have a 30-day grace period to turn in applications.

Bellefonte and Philipsburg-Osceola area school districts have posted reminders for families on their Facebook pages. Other districts have been sending emails to parents with information on signing up and reminding parents to send their students with lunch money this fall.

“Having the free meal programs has been a blessing for our entire community, but moving forward we need to be vigilant in making sure those who qualify follow through with the application process,” Sherri Connell, assistant superintendent of Penns Valley, wrote in an email to the CDT.

Doug Dyke, Bald Eagle Area School District’s athletic director, said only around 30% of the district’s families sign up for the program but close to 50% could be eligible.

Meghan Schaper, food service director for State College Area School District, said the loss of federal waivers will affect families heavily.

“It’s been really, really helpful to families that they can just send their kids to school and know they’re going to get lunch and not have to work through the bureaucracy of applying for free and reduced meals if they’re eligible for it,” Schaper said.

The free meal waiver made the lunch program “seamless” for the past two years, Schaper said, making the process easier on families and the district.

“Having more children participate in the lunch program did bring more money into the program so it helps us buy better quality food, helps us replace equipment, helps us pay our staff,” she said. “So it really was a win-win situation. With free meals going away, that’s going to go away as well.”

During the pandemic, SCASD offered limited meal options, which streamlined their work and helped to combat staffing shortages. Although the waivers are gone, Schaper said the district will keep the more limited menu, offering two lunch options at the elementary schools instead of four.

Now, the district’s already slim profit margins for lunches will drop further as fewer students get in-school meals and food prices rise. Schaper said SCASD will be paying 25% more for food this year due to inflation.

How to sign up

Families who meet eligibility requirements can sign up online at the Department of Human Resources website. Paper applications can be printed and turned into district offices to apply.

Families need to re-apply each year but can apply for the program at any time.

School starts for SCASD students on Tuesday, Aug 23. Philipsburg-Osceola Area School District starts Aug 24. Bellefonte, Penns Valley and Bald Eagle area school districts start on Tuesday, Aug 30.