Free school meals will continue for New Hampshire K-12 students next year, due to pandemic waivers provided by the federal government that are being extended through June 2022.
Before this announcement, the free school meals funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture since 2020 were due to expire in September. The program’s extension continues to apply to all children, regardless of income.
“USDA will remain relentless in ensuring our nation’s children get the critical nutrition they need,” U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement. “States and districts wanted waivers extended to plan for safe reopening in the fall.”
Vilsack called the extension for schools, parents and children.
However, New Hampshire school officials have expressed concern this year about one unintended consequence of federal meal funding – with free meals for all, fewer families are filling out the Free & Reduced Lunch paperwork, creating a false perception of lower enrollment in the meal programs. Since enrollment numbers are used to determine funding, school districts could lose money next year based on artificially low numbers of how many students receive Free & Reduced lunches.
A bill in the New Hampshire legislature aims to fix the problem, by allowing the state Deptartment of Education to use pre-pandemic enrollment numbers to calculate funding for school year 2021-22, meaning the missing paperwork wouldn’t harm schools financially. The bill, SB 135, has passed the senate and is sitting in the House Education Committee. Members have until May 6 to move the bill out of committee and on to the House Finance Committee.
New Hampshire school districts will have two options to choose from under these new USDA waivers, a state Department of Education spokesperson said Tuesday. The first is the Seamless Summer Option, which is usually only available during the summer months but is now extended for the full year. Under this option, school meals will be provided as free to all children under 18 and schools will be reimbursed at the higher-than-normal rate, typically used for the federal summer food program.
The other option is the National School Lunch and Breakfast Program, which provides meals either free, reduced or paid depending on a student’s Free & Reduced eligibility.
In addition, the waivers continue to allow meals to be served outside the normally required group settings and mealtimes, which allows schools to implement bus delivery and pick-up sites, both methods that were used extensively by New Hampshire districts during the COVID-19 pandemic. The waivers also allow summer meal programs to be made available in all areas at no cost.